Misclassifying parties as radical right / right wing populist: a comparative analysis of New Zealand First

Abstract

New Zealand First is occasionally misclassified as a ‘radical right’ and/or ‘right-wing populist party.’ This presents an opportunity to examine how parties might be placed into this family of parties. This paper draws from literature describing parties to propose five criteria to classify a party as radical right/right-wing populist, in part based on views in the electorate. Criteria include: (1) An intersection of populist style and antipathy to immigration; (2) Cultural authoritarianism; (3) Political authoritarianism; (4) Supporters who identify as right-wing; and (5) An electorate that views the party as far right. This study concludes that apart from perhaps two of these criteria, including the least discriminating, New Zealand First was not radical right/right wing populist. More broadly, this study expands on our understanding of ‘radical right’ and/or ‘right-wing populist’ parties by illustrating that the US Republican party, although classified less often with European radical right populist parties than New Zealand First, should be classified as such.