Surviving but not thriving: VOX and Spain in times of Covid-19
Surviving but not thriving: VOX and Spain in times of Covid-19
In this article, we triangulate qualitative data regarding the framing of the pandemic and the strategic decisions taken by Spain’s new populist radical right-wing party, VOX, with a quantitative analysis of aggregate polling data and individual-level survey responses to answer three questions: how has VOX framed the politics of the pandemic? What actions has VOX taken in response to COVID-19? Have the events of the COVID-19 crisis affected VOX’s electoral chances? We argue that VOX’s response to the pandemic has focused on augmenting the antagonistic relationship between itself and the political establishment, especially the left-wing government. Strategically, VOX has sought to leverage the health crisis to engage in legislative manoeuvres aiming, without success, to position itself as the primary party-in-waiting for right-wing voters. We also demonstrate that VOX has proven to be resilient against the potential for electoral decline that was widely prophesied at the beginning of the pandemic.
COVID-19, Spain, VOX, opposition, populism, radical right
Zanotti, Lisa
2f84063d-bd1a-4ff5-927b-519e1c9cca7f
Turnbull-Dugarte, Stuart J.
e25c6280-842c-407f-a961-6472eea5d845
Zanotti, Lisa
2f84063d-bd1a-4ff5-927b-519e1c9cca7f
Turnbull-Dugarte, Stuart J.
e25c6280-842c-407f-a961-6472eea5d845
Zanotti, Lisa and Turnbull-Dugarte, Stuart J.
(2022)
Surviving but not thriving: VOX and Spain in times of Covid-19.
Government and Opposition.
(doi:10.1017/gov.2022.7).
Abstract
In this article, we triangulate qualitative data regarding the framing of the pandemic and the strategic decisions taken by Spain’s new populist radical right-wing party, VOX, with a quantitative analysis of aggregate polling data and individual-level survey responses to answer three questions: how has VOX framed the politics of the pandemic? What actions has VOX taken in response to COVID-19? Have the events of the COVID-19 crisis affected VOX’s electoral chances? We argue that VOX’s response to the pandemic has focused on augmenting the antagonistic relationship between itself and the political establishment, especially the left-wing government. Strategically, VOX has sought to leverage the health crisis to engage in legislative manoeuvres aiming, without success, to position itself as the primary party-in-waiting for right-wing voters. We also demonstrate that VOX has proven to be resilient against the potential for electoral decline that was widely prophesied at the beginning of the pandemic.
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Gov&Opp_acceptedversion
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 20 January 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 25 March 2022
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
Lisa Zanotti acknowledges the support of the Fondo Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Tecnológico (FONDECYT Proyecto 3210352) and the Centre for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies – COES (ANID/FONDAP/15130009).
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Government and Opposition Limited.
Keywords:
COVID-19, Spain, VOX, opposition, populism, radical right
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 454162
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/454162
ISSN: 0017-257X
PURE UUID: 0e722d10-aa49-40b0-b7f5-b66ec1d77160
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Date deposited: 01 Feb 2022 17:45
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:01
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Author:
Lisa Zanotti
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