The Rise and the Fall of the Extreme Right in Europe: Towards an Explanation?

Modern Italy ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-388
Author(s):  
Manuela Caiani ◽  
Claudius Wagemann
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Extreme Right ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Dramatic Rise ◽  
Academic Publications ◽  
Governmental Power ◽  
Right Wing Extremism ◽  
Extreme Right Parties

In the last two decades, the extreme right has experienced a dramatic rise in electoral support in many West European democracies, achieving more parliamentary and even governmental power. Despite extensive interest in this phenomenon and a myriad of academic publications about it, both in sociology and political science, little consensus has been reached about the reasons for the observed growth of right-wing extremism. Three books; The Extreme Right in Western Europe by Elisabeth Carter, Extreme Right Parties in Western Europe by Piero Ignazi and Radical Right by Pippa Norris, try to overcome this lack of consensus through up-to-date analyses of the current situation of extreme right-wing parties in Western Europe and (in Norris’ case) even beyond. All three authors try to go beyond the existing analyses which mainly concentrate on socio-demographic characteristics of extreme right voters. However, they focus on partly different research questions and, consequently, are based on slightly different research designs.

Voting for Populism in Europe: Globalization, Technological Change, and the Extreme Right

2021 ◽  
pp. 001041402199717
Author(s):  
Helen V. Milner
Keyword(s):  
Technological Change ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Extreme Right ◽  
Trade Shocks ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Industrial Democracies ◽  
Extreme Right Parties

What are the political consequences of economic globalization? Since the 1990s, scholars of European party politics have noted the rise of extremist parties, especially right-wing populist ones, and the decline of mainstream left and right parties. This paper focuses on the association between globalization in terms of trade, capital and labor flows, technological change, and popular support for extreme right parties. I examine these relations at the regional and individual level in 15 advanced industrial democracies in Western Europe from 1990 to 2018. Globalization, especially in the form of trade, is associated with growing vote shares for extreme right parties. Technological change in the form of automation increases support for extreme right parties. The financial crisis enhanced support for populist right parties and strengthened the negative relationship between trade shocks and declining support for mainstream left parties. And the use of social welfare compensation seems unable to dampen these political trends.1

On the 'Two Faces' of right-wing extremism in Belgium : Confronting the ideology of extreme right-wing parties in Belgium with the attitudes and motives of their voters

Res Publica ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 397-411
Author(s):  
Hans De Witte
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Extreme Right ◽  
Ethnic Nationalism ◽  
Ideological Differences ◽  
Core Elements ◽  
Right Wing Extremism

In this article, we analyse the ideological differences between extreme rightwing parties and their voters in the Flemish and Walloon part of Belgium. Extreme right-wing ideology consists of five core elements:  (biological) racism, extreme ethnic nationalism, the leadership principle, anti-parliamentarianism and an anti-leftist attitude. All these attitudes refer to the basic value of rightwing extremism: the belief in the inequality of individuals and ( ethnic) groups.  An analysis of the ideology of the Vlaams Blok in Flanders shows that it adheres to these core elements of extreme right-wing ideology. An analysis of the attitudes and motives of the voters of this party, however, shows that they cannot be considered as right-wing extremists. The ideological gap between the Vlaams Blok and its electorate is due to the strategy of this party, since it cultivates 'two faces': a populist, moderate face in order to attract votes, and a radical extreme rightwingface in order to recruit and motivate militants. In Wallonia, less is known about the ideology of right-wing parties and that of their voters. Current research however, suggests that the conclusions from Flemish research may very well be generalized to Wallonia as well.

scholarly journals Political and ideological normalization: quality of government, mainstream-right ideological positions and extreme-right support

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Christos Vrakopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Extreme Right ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
Radical Right Parties ◽  
Post War ◽  
Democratic Parties ◽  
Party Family ◽  
Extreme Right Parties

Abstract This article aims to explain the variation in the electoral support for extreme-right parties (ERPs) in Europe. The extant literature on the far-right party family does not answer this question specifically with regard to the extreme-right variants for two main reasons. Firstly, theories did not expect the electoral success of these parties in post-war Europe due to their anti-democratic profiles and association with fascism. Secondly, despite the fact that they acknowledge the differences between the parties under the far-right umbrella – namely, the extreme and the radical – they normally do not take these differences into account, and if so, they focus on the radical-right parties. This article shows that electoral support for ERPs is associated with low quality of government and highly conservative mainstream-right parties. The former creates political legitimization for anti-democratic parties and the latter ideological normalization of extreme right.

Zapobieganie prawicowemu ekstremizmowi i jego zwalczanie na przykładzie Niemiec

2011 ◽  
pp. 168-190
Author(s):  
Kinga Schlesinger
Keyword(s):  
European Commission ◽  
The State ◽  
The Other ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Extreme Right ◽  
Target Groups ◽  
Main Target ◽  
The Media ◽  
Right Wing Extremism

The article scrutinises the issue of right-wing extremism in Germany in recent years. The analysis leads to the conclusion that this problem is gathering in force in the UE while in Germany it is tending to diminish. The anti-extremism actions undertaken in Germany are so significant that they may provide a sui generis model for the other EU states and the European Commission to follow. The article describes, how right-wing extremism is prevented and countered, in particular as exemplified by Germany. Anti-extremist actions are carried out with regard to various entities and in various fields, namely, legislation, justice, administration, education, the media and NGOs. The article provides a review of anti-extremism strategies applied by the state bodies to the extreme right-wing parties, from marginalising them, in the case of Germany, to accepting them into ruling coalitions, in the case of Austria. The author’s considerations lead her to the conclusion that the main target groups in anti-extremist actions should be the youth and journalists.

The discursive representation of masculinity in the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ)

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Geden
Keyword(s):  
Gender Roles ◽  
National Government ◽  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Extreme Right ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Traditional Concept ◽  
Explorative Study ◽  
Party Activists ◽  
Right Wing Extremism

Organizations of the extreme right are clearly dominated by men, much more than parties of the political mainstream. But instead of analyzing the specific attractiveness of right-wing extremism for men, gender sensible research in this field has mainly focused on women. This explorative study will reconstruct discourses of masculinity within the Freedom Party of Austria, which is part of the national government since 2000. The analysis of two of the party’s newspapers and of group discussions conducted with young party activists will show the party’s willingness to seize on the insecurities that men experience in the ongoing transformation of gender relations. We can find a general orientation towards a traditional concept of gender roles, but the ways of developing and distributing this knowledge differ widely, depending on the specific conditions in the different political arenas in which the newspapers and the activists are involved.

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