Confront Political Radicalism in France and Germany: What are the Effects of Framing Right-Wing Radicalism as a Policy Matter?

In this paper, I question how liberal democracies tackle the paradox of tolerance with the tools of policy and frame analysis. I argue that bringing the concept of defending democracy closer to policy analysis can be fruitful to understand how liberal democracies adapt to an ever-changing radical right. I combine approaches focusing on ideas and institutions: this enables me to analyse how political radicalism is regulated in countries where it does not constitute an immediate threat to democratic politics. How have France and Germany regulated right-wing radicalism? In France, political radicalism is framed as a political problem primarily handled in the political arena. At first glance, this framing is liberal and respectful of fundamental freedoms such as free association, speech or movement. However, I show that policy responses against right-wing radicalism do exist and are hardly subject to regulation mechanisms. In contrast, political radicalism is framed as a policy issue in Germany, which can be seen as intolerant towards political plurality. It nevertheless has enabled policy-makers to establish regulation mechanisms within the governance of political radicalism. Building on this, the German case is characterised by 1/ a large amount of policy actors involved in responses to right-wing radicalism and by 2/ great circulation of power between actors. I argue that these two elements explain the policy changes that occurred in the governance of right-wing radicalism in the last decades. In contrast, the French case is marked by 1/ a concentration of power between few policy-makers and 2/ by a decision-making process, which is subject to greater compartmentalisation than in the German case. Policy change is less likely to occur. This paper is based on my doctoral dissertation and relies on primary material collected in France and Germany among a wide range of policy actors responding to the radical right.