Conditions Favouring Parties of the Extreme Right in Western Europe

Abstract

We examine the systemic conditions that have influenced the electoral success of parties of the extreme right in West European politics from 1970 through 1990. Empirical estimates based on 103 elections in sixteen countries suggest that electoral and party-system factors interact with each other to generate conditions conducive to these parties. Specifically, increasing electoral thresholds dampen support for the extreme right as the number of parliamentary parties expands. At the same time, multi-partism increasingly fosters parties of the extreme right with rising electoral proportionality. Our analyses also indicate that higher rates of unemployment provide a favourable environment for these political movements. These results suggest that levels of electoral support for the extreme right are sensitive to factors that can be modified through policy instruments.

Fertile grounds for extreme right-wing parties: Explaining the Vlaams Blok's electoral success

“…Still, there is disagreement about the precise nature of this relationship. Jackman and Volpert (1996) find positive effects of unemployment on vote (intentions) for extreme right. Negative effects have been identified by Knigge (1998), and Jesuit and Mahler (2004).…”

“…For example, while covering a long period 1981e1998 and a relatively large number of countries (16), the empirical work in Swank and Betz (2003) is based on only 83 observations. Similarly, the analysis in Jackman and Volpert (1996) uses data on 103 elections. This empirical constraint is, of course, unavoidable when one concentrates on actual outcomes of national elections.…”

Protest, Neo-Liberalism or Anti-Immigrant Sentiment: What Motivates the Voters of the Extreme Right in Western Europe?

“…Consequentially, the vast majority of comparative studies of the Extreme Right vote now adopt a theoretical framework that is based on the notion of a conflict between non-Western immigrants and the indigenous population over scarce resources (jobs, welfare benefits). Prominent examples of this approach include Jackman and Volpert (1996), Knigge (1998), Lubbers et al (2002), Golder (2003a), and Arzheimer and Carter (2006), who all analyse the joint impact of immigration and unemployment on the electoral returns for the Extreme Right. More recently, Swank and Betz (2003) and Arzheimer (2008) have introduced the level of welfare benefits as an additional mediating variable.…”

The economic crisis as opportunity: How austerity generates new strategies and solidarities for negotiating Roma access to housing in Rome

“…In Italy, as in Greece, the Southern Model of a welfare state (as defined by Ferrera 1996) with a lack of social safety net became more vulnerable to cuts, producing increasing social polarisation between vulnerable and protected categories (Matsaganis 2012). Economic recessions, unemployment and times of crisis of welfare states can also be associated with the rise of far-right parties (Jackman and Volpert 1996;Norris 2005), xenophobic and anti-immigration attitudes (Huysmans 2006), and to political protests (Ponticelli and Voth 2011). The 2007 crisis is no exception, both with regard to the spur of urban unrest (Ginsburg, Jeffers, and Mooney 2012;Levitas 2012) and to the rise of populist parties (see, for instance, the rise of the Italian Five Stars Movement).…”