Eastern Europe as a Hub of Illiberal Populism? Examining the Attitudes of the Czech Populist Party ANO to LGBT Rights

Populist forces in Europe are on the rise with parties like the National Rally in France and the Polish Law and Justice enjoying significant support of the population. While these parties often focus on issues of immigration or security, their stance on LGBT rights is often less clear. Mudde's ideational approach describes populism as a “thin-centred ideology” dividing society into “the elite” and “the people,” implying that populists believe that there is no need for minority protection as the people are seen as “homogenous.” Populist parties in Western Europe, however, sometimes use LGBT rights to argue against immigration. As this trend seems to be absent from Eastern Europe, a “rainbow curtain” that divides LGBT-friendly and unfriendly populist parties could be drawn. This thesis challenges the assumption that Eastern European populism automatically opposes LGBT rights, focusing on the Czech populist movement Action of Dissatisfied Citizens (ANO). Using a discursive approach...Show morePopulist forces in Europe are on the rise with parties like the National Rally in France and the Polish Law and Justice enjoying significant support of the population. While these parties often focus on issues of immigration or security, their stance on LGBT rights is often less clear. Mudde's ideational approach describes populism as a “thin-centred ideology” dividing society into “the elite” and “the people,” implying that populists believe that there is no need for minority protection as the people are seen as “homogenous.” Populist parties in Western Europe, however, sometimes use LGBT rights to argue against immigration. As this trend seems to be absent from Eastern Europe, a “rainbow curtain” that divides LGBT-friendly and unfriendly populist parties could be drawn. This thesis challenges the assumption that Eastern European populism automatically opposes LGBT rights, focusing on the Czech populist movement Action of Dissatisfied Citizens (ANO). Using a discursive approach that does not assume that populists are against minority protection, the thesis examines ANO's attitudes towards LGBT rights on online news platforms and social media discourse from 2013 to 2024, with a focus on Prague Pride, same-sex adoption, and marriage, and ANO's relationship with Hungarian Fidesz. The analysis shows that ANO's attitudes are ambiguous, influenced by the politician asked (liberal vs. conservative members), timing (early enthusiastic support vs. later disregard or opposition), specific rights (same-sex unions vs. marriage and adoption), and platform (news vs. social media). Two main explanations follow from the primary source analysis. ANO's catch-all strategy to attract diverse voters and its use of LGBT rights to polarise and split the governing coalition.Show less

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Eastern Europe as a Hub of Illiberal Populism? Examining the Attitudes of the Czech Populist Party ANO to LGBT Rights