Parties/Movements: Extreme Right

Abstract

This entry describes the provenance of the term ‘extreme right’ and its entry into the vocabulary of political science. It discusses the cognate term ‘radical right’ and describes the introduction of that into political science. It offers a comprehensive definition of the extreme right that is intended to cover a range of examples in different locations since the early nineteenth century. It periodizes twentieth century extreme right movements and discusses theorizing and research on the extreme right, both Marxist and non-Marxist. In this connection it focuses first on debates about German Nazism, discussing contemporary and more recent theories about it. The debates about Nazism's political role and evidence on the social base of its support are discussed. Then various theories about postwar extreme right parties/movements are introduced. The particular tendency of extreme right parties to splinter is also discussed, and reasons for that characteristic are advanced. Finally, some prognoses about the future of extreme right movements are proposed.