De impact van populistisch radicaal-rechts

Abstract

What is the political impact of the populist radical right (PRR)? In this essay, I assess to what extent PRR parties have influenced other parties, policies, people and polity. On the one hand, PRR parties have affected the positions of mainstream parties vis-a-vis the issue of immigration and thereby also actual policy making. Moreover, PRR parties have fueled political discontent among voters. On the other hand, PRR parties have not made mainstream parties more populist, and their direct impact on policy making has (so far) been limited. I argue that one of the most important consequence of the upsurge of PRR parties is that they challenge the system of liberal democracy. Moreover, I discuss how mainstream parties and academics should deal with this challenge. Mainstream parties must accept PRR parties as full participants in the public debate, but they should oppose all ideas that are incompatible with the principles of liberal democracy. We academics have a role to play, too. The system of liberal democracy is a necessary condition for the existence of an open and pluralist society in which science can flourish, academics can do their work, and we can all live in freedom. Academics have the moral obligation to protect that system.