How do strategies adopted by mainstream parties towards radical right populist parties affect policy? Belgium and Switzerland in comparison

Radical right populist parties (RRPPs) are on the rise in many European countries since the 1990s. That situation has highly concerned citizens, political leaders but also political scientists. Beyond the fact that they are perceived as a threat for democracy, RRPPs are also recognized as representing an electoral threat for mainstream parties, notably because of their anti-establishment stance. Because of this pressure on mainstream parties, different political strategies towards RRPPs are developed by mainstream parties. While the literature in political science has already assessed the impact of such strategies on RRPPs and on mainstream parties themselves, their impact on public policy remains unexplored. This article thus contributes to fill this gap by comparing two contrasted cases: Switzerland and Belgium. Therefore, this article addresses the following question: what is the impact of strategies adopted by mainstream parties towards RRPPs in Belgium and Switzerland? By using the process-tracing method, this research suggests that strategies of disengagement adopted by mainstream parties towards RRPPs – even when these RRPPs are in power – seriously limit the policy influence of RRPPs and make them barely relevant in terms of policy. Therefore, the policy impact of such strategies is particularly strong.