Dr. Michelle Falkenbach, a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Public and Ecosystem Health examined the Consequences of populist radical right (PRR) Parties in Subnational Governments on Health Policy in her new article published in the journal Government & Opposition.

The article examines populist radical right in Austrian and Italian subnational government to determine whether that party group has a policy effect that justifies the scale of interest in them.

Dr. Falkenbach’s findings establish that the “magnitude of PRR influence on health very much depends on whom parties form coalitions with and how much authority they are actually given within the local health ministry.”

In Austria, health policies are made on the national level and thus, concrete subnational health policies were non-existent; in Italy, no evidence was found that institutional constraints limited the power of the PRR with regards to health. “The exception here is Lombardy, where the Catholic Comunione e Liberazione could be seen as a religious authority and, thus, a type of institution,” says Falkenbach.

This article contributes to the literature surrounding the impact of PRR parties in government by expanding the perspective of studies of the PRR to include the understudied area of health policy and the oft-neglected influence of the subnational level of government.

Written by Katie Lesser and Michelle Falkenbach