ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies parties previously considered to belong to the Radical Left party family. It discusses Radical Left ideology – a core of economic radicalism – and moves on to use Chapel Hill Expert Survey data to test whether the parties previously identified as Radical Left do indeed espouse this ideology and thus should be retained as members of the party family or not. Based on this exercise, the chapter suggests an updated classification of contemporary Radical Left parties. These parties’ electoral strength and government participation patterns are then described and discussed. Finally, the supporters of these parties are described and discussed in terms of both their social background and their political attitudes.
