Meguid, Bonnie. "Competition Between Unequals: the role of mainstream party strategy in niche party success". American Political Science Review, Vol.90, No.3 (2005): 347-359.

Meguid, Bonnie. "Competition Between Unequals: the role of mainstream party strategy in niche party success". American Political Science Review, Vol.90, No.3 (2005): 347-359.

• Since the 1960s, groups of 'niche parties' have become increasingly popular, campaigning on issues ignored by mainstream politics. These parties are notable in that they reject the economy and class-based dichotomy of left and right in favour of distinct positions on certain issues not covered by mainstream political parties (347-348).
• Although they have proliferated, niche parties are not usually very popular and only represent a serious contemporary challenge to mainstream parties in a few countries, mostly concentrated in Western Europe (347-348).
• The author contends that contemporary scholarship on these parties ignores the agency of the parties in adapting policy positions in response to new competition. This adaption can either be the incorporation of opposition views into the party platform, concentrated opposition to niche party policies, or simply ignoring the policies proposed by niche parties -- using their considerable political weight to prevent niche issues from becoming part of the political agenda (347-350).
• The author intends to test the degree to which these different strategies have related to the success of niche parties in Western Europe, with niche parties being defined as Green parties and anti-immigrant far-right parties (351). Full methodology is available from page 350 to page 353.
• Traditionally in political science there was this really stupid idea that political parties can only pressure 'touching' parties, meaning that a far-right movement could steal votes from the right-wing but not the left-wing or centrists. The ability of niche parties to target all voters by developing new issues prove that this idea was wrong (350, 357).
• Although structural factors, such as unemployment or the design of the electoral system, do have an influence on the success of niche parties, the reactions of mainstream parties to the emergence of niche parties plays the largest role in actually determining the success of these parties (354).
• Most tactics by mainstream parties to combat the influence of niche parties are unsuccessful at stemming their influence. The adoption of niche party issues by mainstream parties does the most to limit the electoral influence of niche parties, with the effect being stronger if the opposing party opposes rather than ignores the issue (354).
• Generally most mainstream political parties initially ignore the issues raised by new niche parties. This only shifts to an active policy after at least one major electoral challenge. Generally this challenge will only begin to fade if one of the parties adopts some of the niche party's policy positions (356).
• The later and more befuddled the responses of the mainstream parties to niche parties, the more likely it is that the niche party will be able to establish an electoral base which will remain loyal regardless of future actions by mainstream parties (356).