New findings highlight the decisive role of stigma in the failure or success of populist radical right parties (PRRP) (Valentim 2024). However, less is known about the origins and the factors influencing this stigma. Relying on the assumption that this stigma comes from PRRP’s association with historical violence, I theorize and find that cues about historical violence of PRRP such as racism and sexism increase their stigma. Focusing then on the supply side factors influencing this stigma, I expect and find that the use of gender progressive arguments by PRRP in order to argue against immigration -also called femonationalism- decrease the stigma associated with these parties.
I do this by analyzing the results of a 3x2 vignette and list experiment that I conducted in France on 7000 people in 2024.
These results offer a broader understanding of the evolution of the stigma of PRRP, by offering more knowledge about external and internal factors influencing it, thus providing new explanations for PRRP electoral path.