Descripció
Some populist parties have already reached the institutions or even the government in local and regional levels. This working paper aims to analyse the impact of populist parties in regional and local government or the impact of the government when the ruling party needs the support of a populist party. Local and regional governments offer a particularly interesting framework for analysis due to different factors: the existence of a plurality of units, provides the possibility, both to citizens and to analysts and scholars, to contrast manifestos with effective institutional action. The methodological design is based on case studies that includes at least two cases, mostly cities, for each country included in the analysis; these are: Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Spain and Turkey. The working paper includes a brief description of the local and regional systems; an analysis of the context and conditions of the access to the local and regional institutions of populist parties; an examination of the institutional activity; and the impact of this activity in the operation of parties and in their manifestos. This working paper offers a general vision of the operation and action of these parties in local and regional government and shows the main features of a common trend to use city councils as a mechanism to visualize populist action.
