About the study
Launched in 2017 by Maurits J. Meijers and Andrej Zaslove, both of Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands, the expert survey measures the manifestation of populism at the level of political parties and analyses key ideological characteristics. The team of Principal Investigators is complemented by Robert A. Huber from the University of Salzburg: ‘This dataset is the result of a successful international collaboration that allows us to measure populism at the political party level and observe long-term trends in the political landscapes of Europe,’ the project leaders note.
The 2018 Populism and Political Parties Expert Survey (POPPA) dataset represents the first round of the expert survey. Between April and July 2018, 294 country experts were surveyed on 250 parties in 28 European countries with regard to populism, political style, party ideology and party organisation. The corresponding article was published in Comparative Political Studies. The data is publicly available on Harvard Dataverse and has already been downloaded over 4000 times. A clear proof of the valuable contribution to the political science community.
Key findings of the study
The expert survey provides a differentiated picture of the political landscape in Europe. As the project leaders explain: ‘The central aim of the study is to measure the degree of populism of political parties. The study provides information on how populist all relevant parties in Europe are. The results contribute to a better understanding of political parties and their behaviour.’
In addition to populism, the study also measures other key political characteristics such as positions on democracy, climate change and social issues. The results show that many European parties have shifted ideologically in recent years.
Results for the Netherlands
With regard to parties in the Netherlands, the study also provides exciting new findings. ‘It is particularly interesting that, for the first time, data was collected on the BBB (BoerBurgerBeweging). We find that BBB is considerably populist, but less so then the PVV or Forum for Democracy. What is more, the NSC is decidedly not populist, despite its critique on the political establishment. The key populist parties in the Netherlands remain the PVV, Forum for Democracy, and to lesser extent SP and JA21 ’ the project leaders note.
Target groups and possible applications
The study is aimed at researchers, students, data journalists and interested citizens. ‘The data is available online free of charge in all common formats. We have also developed a user-friendly app that makes it possible to visualise the results without in-depth statistical knowledge,’ the authors note.
The data provides a comprehensive picture of the political parties and makes it possible to compare their level of populism over time. Populism has been a central topic in the political debate since the pandemic. While Brexit and the election of Donald Trump are cited as turning points, the necessary data to understand this phenomenon on a broad level is often lacking. ‘With the new 2023 results, it becomes possible to examine how parties have changed since 2018. This is particularly relevant in order to better understand the dynamics of populism and develop political strategies based on this,’ explain the authors / the project leaders.
More information on the data can be found at www.poppa-data.eu. The data is available free of charge on the Harvard Dataverse platform and via a specially developed app at: http://shiny.poppa-data.eu.