---
"title": "How traditional and populist party support differs across Western Europe"
"description": "Explore our new interactive feature to learn more about what traditional and populist party support looks like in Western Europe."
"date": "2018-09-12"
"authors":
  -
    "name": "Laura Silver"
    "job_title": "Associate Director, Global Attitudes Research"
    "link": "https://alpha.pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/staff/laura-silver/"
"url": "https://alpha.pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/short-reads/2018/09/12/how-traditional-and-populist-party-support-differs-across-western-europe/"
---

# How traditional and populist party support differs across Western Europe

Populist parties and movements have disrupted the political landscape in Western Europe, from the [United Kingdom’s Brexit vote](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/24/britain-votes-for-brexit-eu-referendum-david-cameron) to the rise of a [populist governing coalition in Italy](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/31/world/europe/italy-government-populists.html). Amid these gains at the ballot box, journalists and other observers have debated whether these parties are [redrawing the map of Europe](https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2017-europe-populist-right/), [destroying traditional parties](https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2018/03/08/the-rise-of-european-populism-and-the-collapse-of-the-center-left/) or [pulling traditional parties more toward the ideological poles](https://www.economist.com/briefing/2018/02/03/europes-populists-are-waltzing-into-the-mainstream).

To learn more about what traditional and populist party support looks like in Western Europe, explore our new interactive feature below.

## Exploring traditional and populist party support in 8 Western European countries

People in Western Europe differ in their attitudes about major political parties and on key policy issues based on their ideology and whether their views are more populist or mainstream. A [Pew Research Center study](https://alpha.pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/global/2018/07/12/in-western-europe-populist-parties-tap-anti-establishment-frustration-but-have-little-appeal-across-ideological-divide/) of eight countries’ political dynamics used those factors to categorize survey respondents into six political groups: Left Populists, Left Mainstream, Center Populists, Center Mainstream, Right Populists and Right Mainstream – plus a seventh, Unaffiliated, who identify with no particular ideology.