Copying the far right doesn’t help mainstream parties. But it can boost the far right

"(...) There are examples that suggest that fighting the far right by adopting its policies is not as promising as many assume. In Germany in 2018, the Bavarian mainstream-right CSU echoed many of the hardline immigration policies promoted by the far-right AfD. In the subsequent state elections, the CSU suffered massive vote losses while the AfD surged and secured 10.2% of the vote. In Spain, the embrace of more anti-immigration policies by mainstream-right parties Partido Popular and Ciudadanos has not stopped the ascent of Vox. And in France, despite centre-right parties’ discourse being preoccupied for decades with issues relating to national identity and migration, Marine Le Pen is now the most significant electoral force on the right. We investigated this question across 12 western European countries, drawing on data going back to the 1970s. (...)"