The support base of radical right parties in the enlarged European Union

It was shown on the basis of 1994 data that support for most radical right parties was motivated by the same kind of ideological and pragmatic considerations as support for established parties. On the basis of 1999 data, this was seen to be true only for a small group of successful radical right parties. The current study replicates these analyses on the basis of data from the European Elections Studies 2004. It shows that, by 2004, voters for almost all radical right parties are less motivated by left-right ideology than voters for the established parties. The implications of these results - which are at odds with the literature on niche parties - are discussed.