2026/05/15 by Nuria Font, Cristina Ares · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Populism, Right-Wing Movements #European Union Policy and Governance #Critical Theory and Philosophy
paper · doi:10.1080/01402382.2026.2662870
openalex publication_date 2026/05/15 · openalex created_date 2026/05/16 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/15
This article investigates how national government-opposition dynamics influence populists’ ethical claims in the supranational arena. While research on populism highlights moral integrity rhetoric and examines whether populist parties moderate once in office, less is known about how they adjust ethical claiming supranationally when entering national government. Using written questions in the European Parliament, this study asks: Do legislators from populist parties raise more ethical claims than mainstream ones? Do they moderate when their party enters national government? Do they behave differently when targeting European Union (EU)- versus national-level actors? The findings show that, outside government, populist Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) raise more ethical questions than mainstream MEPs, but once in office they moderate more strongly than mainstream legislators. For opposition parties, populist-mainstream differences are larger for EU-level than for national-level targets, and this EU-level difference narrows when populists enter office. The study contributes to debates on populism in multi-level contexts.