Abstract
Populist radical right parties, such as the Bulgarian Attack Party, sow the seeds of ethnic discord and rally around authoritarian policies for sustaining domestic order. Scholars studying these political parties have focused on examining their leaders’ rhetoric, political messages, and electoral success, but have paid less attention to their effects on liberal democracy. This study assesses Attack’s impact on Bulgarian liberal democracy. Analysis of data from the 2008 European Social Survey suggests that party preference does not affect liberal democratic values such as attitudes toward torture and immigrants, but does help us predict people’s opinions on gay rights. None of Attack’s legislative proposals to curtail minority rights in the Bulgarian National Assembly were approved. In spite of its image as an anti-establishment party, Attack’s legislators supported Borisov’s cabinet in several no confidence votes between 2009 and 2012. Overall, Attack has had little impact on Bulgaria’s legislative and political process.
Highlights
More than a decade ago, the Political Affairs Committee of the Council of Europe issued a report, which warned citizens and politicians about the proliferation of extremist parties and movements ‘that encourage intolerance, xenophobia, and racism’ and ‘defend ideologies that are incompatible with democracy and human rights.’ (Note 1) Proponents of liberal democracy feel rightful indignation at the flagrantly racist rhetoric adopted by the leaders of extremist right political parties
This study focuses on three aspects of liberal democratic values and systems in order to test the effects of the Attack Party on Bulgarian liberal democracy – attitudes towards torture, immigrants of the same or different ethnic group as the majority, and homosexuals
The levels of tolerance toward homosexuals that Attack’s supporters demonstrate is not significantly different from the levels of tolerance shown by supporters of more socially progressive mainstream political parties such as Union of Democratic Forces (SDS) and the National Movement Symeon the Second (NDSV)
Summary
More than a decade ago, the Political Affairs Committee of the Council of Europe issued a report, which warned citizens and politicians about the proliferation of extremist parties and movements ‘that encourage intolerance, xenophobia, and racism’ and ‘defend ideologies that are incompatible with democracy and human rights.’ (Note 1) Proponents of liberal democracy feel rightful indignation at the flagrantly racist rhetoric adopted by the leaders of extremist right political parties. We still know too little about these parties’ effect on legislation and the inclusion of their values into policy outcomes Since these political parties emerged in Western Europe first, most of the literature features West European case studies and comparative analyses (Ignazi, 2003; Kitschelt, 2007; Mény & Surel, 2002). These include the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Party (VMRO), the Zora Political Circle, the Bulgarian National Radical Party (BNRP), and others that were founded in the early 1990s (Ivanov & Ilieva, 2005) Most of these parties do not boast impressive membership numbers, typically gain less than five per cent of the national vote in parliamentary elections, and have been irrelevant to the legislative process because of their extra-parliamentary status. While the evidence revealing Attack’s legislative and political disengagement contradicts Mudde and Rovira-Kaltwasser’s theoretical proposition, it does not disprove their general argument
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