Factors of Success of Right-Wing Populist Parties: a Comparative Analysis of Countries in Western and Eastern Europe in 2010 - 2018

This paper aims to identify factors affecting the level of support for right-wing populist parties in 12 countries of Western Europe - Austria, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, France, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Great Britain, Switzerland, and the Netherlands; and 9 countries of Eastern Europe - Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania. The chronological framework of the study covers the period from 2010 to 2018. The research paper provides a theoretical review of the works devoted to the activities of right-wing populist parties and the successful trajectory of their development. Possible factors leading to an increase in the level of support for such parties by the electorate in political elections are determined. An empirical test of the hypotheses is carried out by using a statistical regression model to identify the relationship between the indicated success factors and the level of support of the right-wing populist parties. The paper presents a comparative analysis of the countries of Western and Eastern Europe. It is concluded that the level of support for right-wing populist parties is influenced by the country's democratic index, the level of party institutionalization, level of trust in the national Parliament of the country, satisfaction with the quality of democracy and attitude to immigration processes.