The Rise of Movement Parties and their Implications for Progressive Politics

While the traditional party representatives of progressive politics have declined in recent decades, a new type of party has emerged as a response to the 2008 economic crisis and austerity policies: the movement party. Many of the most successful examples of movement parties have mobilised the supporters of the old centre-left and adopted some of the same progressive programmes. This chapter provides an overview of the continuities and novelties of two of the most significant of these movement parties: the Five Star Movement and Podemos. Specifically, it discusses the progressive credentials of their issue programmes and their innovative organisational forms, including their use of participatory mechanisms and digital technologies over time. First, it examines the transition of demands and movement-like structures from the protest arena into the institutional arena through the formation of these new parties. Second, turning to their activities in parliament, and then, in government, it considers the dilemmas and trade-offs during the process of institutionalisation. While navigating the requirements of responsibility, compromise and decision-making in the institutional arena, to what extent do they stick to their movement origins and progressive credentials? In conclusion, at this point of the maturation of these parties, we assess their contribution to progressive politics.