The Populist Radical Right in Central and Eastern Europe: Parties in the Political Process

Populist radical right (PRR) parties have made important electoral inroads across Europe. The recent performance of these parties in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has ultimately paralleled that of similar organisations in the Western side of the continent; this prompts a better understanding of the PRR phenomenon in post-communist countries. This paper specifically focuses on the impact of PRR parties in CEE. Besides their specific electoral performance, PRR parties are believed to influence the political process of their countries of belonging. By means of primary and secondary data, this paper shall demonstrate that both national political actors and certain policy fields have been affected by the emergence or re-emergence of PRR parties in Bulgaria, Hungary, and Slovakia. Ultimately, such interactions may have consequences for the quality of liberal democracy in post-communist countries.