‘Parties in the Shadows’ –Do Small and Marginal Parties Cater to a Niche?

Small and marginal parties are seldom the focus of studies in political science and are usually excluded from analyses altogether. However, an increase in the number of these ‘other’ parties can be observed during federal elections, though their chances of gaining seats are almost non-existent. Moreover, small and marginal parties can have an impact on the party system by diffusing topics and posing a potential electoral threat to established parties, with whom they face the challenging task of competing. One way of increasing their chances of getting votes is by gaining issue ownership over a niche topic. In this study, we use a quantitative content analysis and a dictionary approach to investigate 16 small and marginal German parties in order to determine whether they aim to cater to a niche or act as ‘failed’ mainstream (topic) parties. Our analysis reveals that small and marginal parties indeed have incentives to cater to a niche in order to gain electoral advantages, though the same strategy also contributes to their small and marginal existence.