Challenge to Democratic Societies? Populist and Radical Right Parties in Europe

Abstract

Populist radical right parties are considered in the academic literature to be part of the “third wave” of right-wing extremism which has, in Western Europe since the 1980s, been linked to racist and xenophobic attitudes and populist tendencies. In Central and Eastern Europe the radical right has emerged in the course of regime change after 1989. The populist radical right parties and sometimes their more extreme variants, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, are perceived as an increasing challenge to established democracies, at both national and European level and in both the electoral and ideological arena. However, while the relevance of such parties has contributed to the creation of a consistent body of research, the study in Central and Eastern Europe lacks systematic approach. This panel, reflecting on the current situation, will bring together contemporary theoretical and empirical approaches to various aspects of populism and the radical right, in both Western and Central and Eastern Europe. The individual papers discuss a variety of issues on both the demand and supply side (e.g. the framing processes in which the actors involved in the radical right have been dealing with “the Others”; the political participation of populist radical right MEPs in the political processes of the European Parliament; and the reactions of established political parties to the challenge of the radical right). The panel also deals with issues such as anti-establishment rhetoric within populist party manifestos (although populist radical right parties are inherently anti-establishment, such a rhetoric has become increasingly prevalent within wider European party discourse), and the social base of electoral support of new populist parties. The papers include theoretical and empirical examples of the performance of the populist radical right in Western and Central and Eastern Europe and discuss the future challenges for the study of these phenomena.

Title	Details
Enemies at the Gates? Framing Strategies of the Far Right in Slovakia and the Czech Republic	View Paper Details
Between Acceptance and Surrender: The Reactions of Established Political Parties to the Populist Challenge	View Paper Details
Social Bases of New Populist Parties in Central European Countries	View Paper Details