Far-Right Voting Influence on Liberal Democracy in the European Parliament

In recent years, liberal democracies across the globe are facing mounting pressures from within, most importantly through the growing success of far-right parties. Long a marginal actor in many political systems, the far right is gaining ground and threatens liberal democracy by openly contesting liberal norms and ideas and promoting illiberalism as an ideological alternative. Moreover, mainstream parties have increasingly responded to the far-right’s success by co-opting its ideas and, in some cases, entering into formal cooperation. The “mainstreaming” and “normalisation” of the far right is particularly consequential, since mainstream actors crucially shape the conditions of far-right influence and are traditionally regarded as gatekeepers of liberal democracy. This article examines far-right behaviour and influence on liberal-democratic matter within the European Parliament (EP). It focuses on roll-call votes in the EP plenary related to the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs (LIBE) between 2014 and 2024, which deals with questions of liberal democracy. On the one hand, it investigates whether far-right groups act as a cohesive actor, given that cohesion is an important precondition of policy influence. On the other hand, it examines if and under which conditions these groups exerts policy influence over LIBE legislation.