How scholars turned their attention to the populist radical right

In this extract from his new book, The Populist Radical Right: A Reader, Cas Mudde looks at the boom in academic studies of populist radical right parties. He identifies three waves of scholarship since 1945 – the most recent of which has come to trump the study of all other party families put together, despite their relative lack of electoral success

In the aftermath of the shutdown, widespread grassroots support means that the Tea Party is far from over

The Tea Party has taken much of the blame for the recent US government shutdown, with many commentators predicting that its influence is likely to be massively reduced. Cas Mudde argues that the Tea Party faction of the Republican Party is likely to continue; despite its likely diminishing funding from big business, it still enjoys a massive active base of support. The real challenge for the GOP in the lead up to the 2014 Congressional elections is to prove that it can be viable without the Tea Party

The European Parliament elections show the increasingly fragmented nature of European party systems

Most coverage of the European Parliament elections has noted the rise of several far-right and Eurosceptic parties across Europe. Cas Mudde argues, however, that a more important trend was toward increasingly fragmented party systems. Presenting a series of numbers from the elections, he illustrates that ‘big parties’ are experiencing declining vote shares, with a greater number of smaller parties now competing for power in many EU countries

The ideology of the extreme right

Though the extreme right was not particularly successful in the 1999 European elections, it continues to be a major factor in the politics of Western Europe. This book, newly available in paperback, provides a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the extreme right in the Netherlands (Centrumdemocraten, Centrumpartij'86), Belgium (Vlaams Blok) and Germany (Die Republikaner, Deutsche Volksunion). On the basis of original research - using party literature - the author concludes that though individual parties might stress different issues, the extreme right party family does share a core ideology of nationalism, xenophobia, welfare chauvinism, and law and order. The author's research and conclusions clearly have broader implications for the study of the extreme right phenomenon and party ideology in general, and the book should be of interest to anyone studying or researching in the areas of European politics, political ideologies, political parties, extremism, racism or nationalism

What happened to the Dutch left?

Opinion polls ahead of the Dutch general election have presented a bleak picture for the country’s three classic left parties. But were these parties ever that strong and, if so, when did they decline? Cas Mudde addresses some popular myths about the Dutch left’s past and the challenges now shaping its future. What is happening ... Continue

The ideology of the extreme right

Though the extreme right was not particularly successful in the 1999 European elections, it continues to be a major factor in the politics of Western Europe. This book, newly available in paperback, provides a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the extreme right in the Netherlands (Centrumdemocraten, Centrumpartij'86), Belgium (Vlaams Blok) and Germany (Die Republikaner, Deutsche Volksunion). On the basis of original research - using party literature - the author concludes that though individual parties might stress different issues, the extreme right party family does share a core ideology of nationalism, xenophobia, welfare chauvinism, and law and order. The author's research and conclusions clearly have broader implications for the study of the extreme right phenomenon and party ideology in general, and the book should be of interest to anyone studying or researching in the areas of European politics, political ideologies, political parties, extremism, racism or nationalism

Krajnja desnica na europskim izborima 2014. godine: nešto novoga, mnogo staroga

Čak i prije nego što su bili poznati službeni rezultati izbora za Europski parlament, međunarodni su mediji jednoglasno proglasili pobjedu krajnje desnice. Mnogi su europske izbore 2014. opisali kao politički ”potres” koji je uzdrmao kontinent i svijet

Populismo en Europa: una respuesta democrática iliberal al liberalismo antidemocrático

In this lecture, I lay out my approach to populism, which falls within the now dominant ‘ideational approach’ of populism, discuss the complex relationship between populism and politics, and identify some of the main causes of the ongoing ‘populist Zeitgeist’. My main arguments are, first, while populism is related to (real and perceived) ‘crises’, these so-called ‘crises’ are often catalysts rather than prime causes of the rise of populism; second, populism is essentially an illiberal democratic response to undemocratic liberalism; and third, populism can only be overcome by more rather than less liberal democracy. I illustrate my arguments on the basis of the recent rise of populism in Europe, but believe they also largely hold true beyond that specific regional and temporal context.En esta conferencia, expongo mi enfoque sobre populismo, que se inscribe en el "enfoque ideacional" hoy dominante; discuto la compleja relación entre populismo y política, e identifico algunas de las principales causas del actual “populist Zeitgeist”. Mis principales argumentos son los siguientes: primero, aunque el populismo está relacionado con "crisis" (reales y percibidas), estas supuestas "crisis" son a menudo catalizadores más que causas principales del auge del populismo; segundo, el populismo es esencialmente una respuesta democrática no liberal al liberalismo no democrático; y tercero, el populismo sólo puede superarse con más democracia liberal y no con menos. Ilustro mis argumentos basándome en el reciente auge del populismo en Europa, pero creo que también son válidos en gran medida más allá de ese contexto regional y temporal específico

It’s the question, stupid: democracy experts respond to the EU referendum question proposals

The Electoral Commission has this week set out its advice on the wording of the question in a proposed referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union. In this post, leading democracy experts share their views on the alternative questions, considering the implications for the campaign and drawing on evidence from previous referendums in the UK and elsewhere