- Radical Right Parties and Politics in Europe

Catalog description

What accounts for the emergence, persistence and demise of "radical" or "far right" political parties in Europe? After a period of post-war stability, European party systems began to break down in the 1960s. This led to several new developments, namely, a decline in democratic participation; a decline in the traditional parties of the center Left and center Right; and the emergence of new parties on both the Left and the Right. This course focuses on the newer parties on the Right that emerged in Western Europe during the 1980's and 1990's. Specifically we focus on what many scholars label the "far" or "radical" right. These parties tend to be organized around a particular set of ideological concepts emphasizing nationalism, exclusion of "foreigners," a strong state, welfare chauvinism and, more recently, Islamophobia. Over the course of the semester students will compare and contrast the emergence of these parties and their politics across Europe and discern the differences between what scholars describe as "populist radical" or "populist far" right parties from other parties on the extreme right, namely neofascist or neo-Nazis parties which are viewed as inherently undemocratic and often elitist.