The Two Faces of Radical Right-Wing Populism in Western Europe

1993 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 663-686 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-Georg Betz
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Cultural Transformation ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
The Past ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
Party Group

During the past several years, radical right-wing populist parties have made impressive electoral gains in a growing number of West European countries. Their dramatic surge to political prominence has obscured the fact that these parties hardly form a homogeneous party group. Generally, it is possible to distinguish between neo-liberal and national populist parties. Both types of parties are a response to the profound economic, social, and cultural transformation of advanced societies interpreted as a transition from industrial welfare to postindustrial individualized capitalism. National populist parties are primarily working-class parties which espouse a radically xenophobic and authoritarian program. Neoliberal parties appeal to a mixed social constituency and tend to stress the marketoriented, libertarian elements of their program over xenophobic ones. Rather than being mere short-lived protest phenomena, radical right-wing populist parties are a reflection and expression of new political conflicts created by the transition to postindustrial capitalism.

Radical right-wing populism in western Europe

1995 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 644-644
Author(s):  
Gordon Smith
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Right Wing Populism

scholarly journals ‘Fascism… but with an open mind.’ Reflections on the Contemporary Far Right in (Western) Europe

Fascism ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel Copsey
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Science Community ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
Right Wing Extremism

The political science community would have us believe that since the 1980s something entirely detached from historical or neo-fascism has emerged in (Western) Europe - a populist radicalization of mainstream concerns - a novel form of ‘radical right-wing populism.’ Yet the concept of ‘radical right-wing populism’ is deeply problematic because it suggests that (Western) Europe’s contemporary far right has become essentially different from forms of right-wing extremism that preceded it, and from forms of right-wing extremism that continue to exist alongside it. Such an approach, as this First Lecture on Fascism argues, fails to appreciate the critical role that neo-fascism has played, and still plays, in adapting Europe’s contemporary far right to the norms and realities of multi-ethnic, liberal-democratic society. Political scientists should fixate less on novelty and the quest for neat typologies, and instead engage far more seriously with (neo) fascism studies.

West European Politics in Turmoil?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Erik R. Tillman
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Electoral Politics ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
West European Politics ◽  
Radical Right Parties ◽  
National Boundaries ◽  
West European

This chapter introduces the puzzle and motivation for the book. Rising support for populist radical right parties in Western Europe and increasing polarization over European integration represent a change from the politics of the 1990s. Radical right parties or candidates have achieved new levels of electoral support in many West European countries. At the same time, though, mainstream values have become increasingly liberal. Thus, recent years have not simply seen a resurgence of right-wing nationalism in Western Europe; they have seen greater polarization concerning issues of national identity and community. In short, West European electoral politics is evolving from conflict based around cleavages such as class to a new dimension of conflict centring on questions of identity, culture, and the demarcation of national boundaries. This chapter reviews existing accounts of this electoral evolution before providing an overview of this book’s arguments and findings.

Radical Right-Wing Populism in Western Europe.

1995 ◽  
Vol 110 (1) ◽  
pp. 142
Author(s):  
William E. Scheuerman ◽  
Hans-Georg Betz
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Right Wing Populism

Radical Right-Wing Populism in Western Europe

1994 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. 172
Author(s):  
Fritz Stern ◽  
Hans-Georg Betz
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Right Wing Populism

scholarly journals Right-wing populism’s (ab)use of the past in Italy and the Netherlands

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 105-118
Author(s):  
Stefan Couperus ◽  
Pier Domenico Tortola
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Exploratory Analysis ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Deep Insight ◽  
The Past ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
Insight Into

Historical analysis is increasingly used as a tool in the study of present-day populism in Europe. The past is often explored as a source of analogies through which to examine today’s populism, and at other times in search of causal mechanisms to explain the current populist wave. In this paper we focus on a third kind of link between populism and the past, namely the ways populist movements and leaders use and abuse history and historical memory in their quest for mass support. This angle on the populism/history nexus can yield deep insight into the ideological make-up of these movements and their voters, and populism’s discursive dynamics and strategies.Focusing on contemporary right-wing populism and its approach to the dark past of European countries, the paper conducts an exploratory analysis that posits three ways in which the past is (ab)used by populists: (a) the positive reassessment of dark history; (b) the recourse to fake history; (c) the evocation and subsequent denial of links with the dark past. In examining each, we use examples taken from the cases of Italy and The Netherlands to check the plausibility of our categories across different national cases. 

scholarly journals The People’s Champ: Doug Ford and Neoliberal Right-Wing Populism in the 2018 Ontario Provincial Election

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Budd
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Conservative Party ◽  
The United States ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Special Interests ◽  
Liberal Party ◽  
The People ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
Ideological Commitment

The 2018 Ontario provincial election marked a decisive shift in the political direction of Canada’s most populous province. The election brought an end to the long reign of the Ontario Liberal Party (2003–2018), whose government devolved into a series of scandals that resulted in a third-place finish. The Liberal’s defeat came at the hands of the Progressive Conservative Party led by former Toronto city councillor, Doug Ford. The Progressive Conservative’s victory was propelled on the back of Ford’s deeply populist campaign where he promised to reassert the interests of ‘the people,’ expel the influence of elites and special interests, and clean up government corruption. This campaign discourse led many political opponents and media pundits to accuse Ford of importing the nativist, xenophobic, and divisive rhetoric of other radical right-wing populist leaders. This article advances the argument that rather than representing the importation of ‘Trumpism’ or other types of radical right-wing populism, Ford’s campaign is better understood within the tradition of Canadian populism defined by an overarching ideological commitment to neoliberalism. In appealing to voters, Ford avoided the nativist and xenophobic rhetoric of populist leaders in the United States and Western Europe, offering a conception of ‘the people’ using an economic and anti-cosmopolitan discourse centred upon middle class taxpayers. This article makes a contribution to both the literatures on Canadian elections and populism, demonstrating the lineage of Ford’s ideological commitment to populism within recent Canadian electoral history, as well as Ford’s place within the international genealogy of right-wing populism.

How and Why the Populist Radical Right Persuades Citizens

2019 ◽  
pp. 813-837
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Ivarsflaten ◽  
Scott Blinder ◽  
Lise Bjånesøy
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Good Reason ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Large Share ◽  
The Past ◽  
Populist Radical Right ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
Party Family ◽  
Established Democracies

The “populist radical right” is a contested concept in scholarly work for good reason. This chapter begins by explaining that the political parties usually grouped together under this label are not a party family in a conventional sense and do not self-identify with this category. It goes on to show how political science scholarship has established that in Europe during the past thirty or so years we have seen the rise of a set of parties that share a common ideological feature—nativism. The nativist political parties experiencing most electoral support have combined their nativist agenda with some other legitimate ideological companion, which provides deniability—a shield against charges that the nativist agenda makes the parties and their supporters right-wing extremist and undemocratic. The chapter goes on to explain that in order to make progress on our understanding of how and why the populist radical right persuades citizens, we need to recognize: first, that nativism is the only necessary ingredient without which the populist radical right loses its force; and second, that nativism in contemporary established democracies has tended not to persuade a large share of voters without an ideological companion.

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