The effect of the resurgent radical populist right on the main centre-left and centre-right parties and their adaptation strategies

Austria is a clear example of a political system in which the so-called silent revolution, marked first by the rise of greens and liberals, and then a not-so-quiet counter-revolution in the form of the populist radical right, has shaped politics from the 1980s onwards. As a result, the two main centre-left and centre-right parties suffered a prolonged period of decline and electoral misalignment. However, it is the Conservatives who have shown much greater strategic changes in their response, including cooperation and convergence with the far right. This chapter explains the conditions under which the Conservatives carried out this cooperation and analyses the effects of this process. It focuses especially on the extent to which Conservatives themselves adopted nativist and populist positions and policies in the process. The chapter also examines the effects of the so-called refugee crisis and changes with regard to immigration laws, security measures affecting the Muslim community and an increasingly negative discourse on the European Union.