Right-wing Populist Research Articles

De las políticas de mano dura a la política del estado de excepción en El Salvador

This article analyzes the process of deterioration of democracy in El Salvador, in the context of the exceptional regime imposed by the government of Nayib Bukele. Paradoxically, this is one of the governments in the post-conflict period with the highest level of citizen approval, according to public opinion polls (IUDOP, 2023). The study is based on historiographic research that analyzes the main impacts of the failure of the security policies of the ARENA and FMLN governments on democratic institutionality, combined with the statistical analysis of a national survey on the level of approval or rejection of the Bukele government and its security strategy, materialized in the emergency regime. It shows that the confluence of the unsatisfied security demands of the citizenry in the face of the problem of violence and the failure of the political opportunism of the ARENA and FMLN governments in security matters have contributed to the imposition of the exception regime by the government of Nayib Bukele, whose reduction in the homicide rate and victimization have generated a majority favorable opinion among the citizenry. This despite the risks posed by the authoritarian drift of the current regime and the restriction of certain democratic attributes in the relationship between the State and society. In summary, this research invites us to think about the complex connection between authoritarian populism, political culture and democracy. ECA Estudios Centroamericanos, Vol. 79, No. 774, 2024: 13-46.

Populist hyperpersonalization and politicization of foreign policy institutions

Abstract This article explains how right-wing populist leaders in Hungary, Poland, Russia and Turkey have transformed their states' foreign policy institutions through personalization and politicization. We examine the transformation of foreign policy institutions in the four cases and make two contributions. First, we differentiate between disparate types of personalization by proposing the term ‘hyperpersonalization’—populist leaders' reliance on security institutions in foreign policy decision-making—which distinguishes the populist transformation of foreign policy institutions in Russia and Turkey. We argue that lower levels and speed of autocratization lead to politicization combined with milder cases of personalization of the foreign policy bureaucracy, while higher levels and speed of autocratization lead to higher levels of personalization in the foreign policy institutions. Second, we lay out the steps and patterns of populist politicization and hyperpersonalization that bring ‘deinstitutionalizing restructuring’ to foreign policy institutions. As we illustrate, this deinstitutionalizing restructuring involves concurrent bureaucratic expansion and bureaucratic retrenchment. The process is accompanied by a populist narrative that this restructuring is done to realize the ‘popular will’ or to regain ‘full sovereignty’. We conclude the article with the policy implications of this populist transformation of foreign policy institutions.

Didier Eribon vs. ‘The People’—A Critique of Chantal Mouffe’s Left Populism

In this article, I develop a critique of Chantal Mouffe’s leftist populism and its construction of ‘the people’ against an opposed ‘them’, from a perspective informed by the thought of Didier Eribon. I draw on both his public interventions and his theoretical work, employing his concepts of return, society as verdict, and his two principles of critical thinking to question the desirability of crafting ‘the people’ in the first place. I contend that Eribon’s critique renders Mouffe’s proposal problematic on three accounts. First, her approach is too politically volatile; its instability leaves it devoid of a critical analysis of the differences between concrete social positions, struggles, and subjectivities within ‘the people’. Consequently, the political becomes merely a function of the social. Yet, the social and its determining power remain mostly unaddressed by her framework. Second, its simplistic opposition of an overly generalised ‘the people’ against ‘the oligarchy’ is susceptible to right-wing populist appropriations. Third, for a shot at hegemony and a general appeal, it eclipses plurality and dissensus within ‘the people’. In contrast, Eribon encourages a connection between the social and the political by suggesting that a self-critical analysis be mutually intertwined with social analysis. Instead of merely mobilising affects, they must be critically interrogated. Instead of summoning ‘the people’, a return to their respective genesis must be attempted. Unless both principles of critical thinking, the insights of return, and societal verdicts are deployed to come to terms with the social determinisms at hand, the ‘people’s’ mobilisation against an opposed ‘them’ risks sacrificing pluralism and equality alike and neglecting the criteria of the desirability of specific changes in favour of a “whatever it costs” attempt at hegemony.

Leadership in international populism: How Viktor Orbán’s Hungary shows the way

Although a burgeoning literature explores the international dimensions of populism, we still know little about how populist leaders gain international popularity. This paper describes how Viktor Orbán, the Prime Minister of Hungary, has emerged as the role model of international right-wing populism. It demonstrates that Orbán actively supplied himself as an example that like-minded politicians should follow. We draw on the concept of legitimation strategies to illustrate why Orbán markets himself as the leader of an international movement against liberal ideologues (Wajner, 2022). At the same time, populists in many countries have searched abroad for a successful model to follow. Orbán’s anti-migration policies and his defense of conservative family values constitute chapters of an illiberal playbook that right-wing populists are eager to implement. We use the concept of authoritarian learning to develop this demand-side perspective (Hall and Ambrosio, 2017). Empirically, we demonstrate our argument through an analysis of speeches delivered at a leading gathering of right-wing populists and moral conservatives: the Hungarian editions of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that took place in Budapest in 2022 and 2023.

Max Weber and Carl Schmitt on Legitimate Domination: Belief in Legitimacy or Acknowledgement of Legitimacy?

This article discusses Weber’s and Schmitt’s diverging interpretations of the legitimate bases of domination. While Weber regards the belief in legitimacy as the source of legitimate domination, Schmitt employs an existentialist interpretation by deriving legitimacy from the acknowledgement of the people. These two distinct sources are preponderant in their understandings of plebiscitary leadership. Weber derives the legitimacy of the plebiscitary leader from charismatic grounds. In contrast, Schmitt maintains that the acknowledgement of the people of the already existing order constitutes the democratic legitimacy of the plebiscitary leader. Weber’s ideal-type of charismatic domination seems to be more appositely applicable to left-wing populism, while Schmitt provides a more adequate framework to analyse right-wing populism in contemporary societies. As a result, this article argues that comparative-historical and political sociologists should take into account these distinct conceptions of legitimate domination in order to comprehend the peculiar features of legitimate government in contemporary societies.

Europe’s Leadership Void

Europe’s successful embrace of its geopolitical potential in a multipolar world will require both greater cohesion and an enhanced ability to act globally. Europe’s three major powers – France, Germany and the United Kingdom – have managed to either stave off or recover from right-wing populism, and have dealt competently with the Russia–Ukraine war. But they are currently too riven by internal politics or historical prejudices to take the lead in Europe. Relief from domestic political dysfunction may therefore rest with the European Union itself. Under Ursula von der Leyen’s authoritative leadership, the European Commission has become the most decisive and capable political actor in Europe. This was demonstrated by its imaginative response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and through its comprehensive Russian sanctions regime in 2022. However, only another crisis – such as a second Donald Trump presidential term – is likely to generate the momentum for the commission to re-emerge as the engine for further European integration.

TikTok Videos, Carnivalesque Provocations for Teachers: Political Responses to Populism’s Right-Wing

Abstract This article explores how TikTok videos, situated in a postdigital space and means of engagement, visibilise divergent responses to right-wing, populist political governments with anti-liberal, anti-socialist policies, offering video-based provocations for teachers. Even traditionally left-wing havens are shifting to right-wing populism, seemingly exemplified by the Aotearoa Coalition Government, implicating the prevalence of this phenomena. Due to education being an ideological battlefield, teachers are heavily implicated by such shifts, encouraging a visibilising of spaces and strategies for their responses. In this article, Mikhail Bakhtin’s dialogic philosophy, with special attention to his concept of carnivalesque, is brought into conversation with TikTok videos, facilitating a means to conceptualise and analyse this postdigital, divergent underground as a mirthing means of speaking back. These mocking, visual responses to right-wing governments are then signalled as provocations for teachers experiencing a rise of populist policies. This article concludes by suggesting how teachers may utilise TikTok videos to politically speak back in divergent ways to right-wing governments, encouraging creative and diverse engagements in this postdigital platform.

Unlearning nationalised social work in times of rising right-wing populism

Recent political changes in Sweden are undermining social work as a human rights profession by accentuating it once again as nationalised and citizenship oriented. This commentary addresses the Tidö Agreement that immerses social work into a politics of surveillance of undocumented migrants. Writing from the perspective of a lecturer who works for internationalisation in a university setting, I provide critical reflections on what internationalisation of social work might mean in the contemporary context and outline some strategies as ways forward.

EVOLUTION AND PROSPECTS OF THE «ALTERNATIVE FOR GERMANY»

In recent years, the populist Alternative for Germany (AfG) party, which systematically opposes the ruling mainstream parties, has become active on the German political scene. In contrast to the approach of the mainstream parties, the AfG’s views on governance and engagement with the European Union now pose a threat to the coalition of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Alliance 90 / The Greens because of the increasing popularity of right-wing populists among the German electorate. In autumn 2025, Germany will hold federal elections to the Bundestag, which will determine the political course of the country for the next 5 years. The purpose of this article is to assess the prospects of the Alternative for Germany party in the Bundestag elections in 2025.A significant part of the article is devoted to reviewing the ideological evolution of the party, which has gone from a minor moderate party to the leading opposition force in the country. This is essential in order to understand the implications of the current rise in social tensions and scandals around Alternative and how this may affect its future political sustainability. Authors provide a forecast of the party’s chances of success in the parliamentary elections and assess the risks that the AfG may face during the electoral struggle. The conclusion is made that the chances of the Alternative for Germany party to enter the government in 2025 will depend on its capacity to timely eliminate the accumulated internal contradictions, such as the excessive radicalisation of the party and the lack of a unified ideological component among its leaders.

Soberanía nacional y antisemitismo. La memoria de la derecha nacionalista argentina frente al caso Eichmann

After World War II, Adolf Eichmann found refuge in Argentina. In May 1960, he was captured by an Israeli intelligence unit and taken to Israel for trial. After being found guilty, he was sentenced to death and executed two years later. These events had a strong impact on the country from which he was abducted. Argentinian right-wing nationalist groups carried out numerous demonstrations to demand his restitution while leading strong waves of anti-Semitism in the country. The actions of youth groups such as the Movimiento Nacionalista Tacuara and the Guardia Restauradora Nacionalista against the Argentine Jewish community were strongly repudiated by society. Through the analysis of nationalist bulletins, press, national newspapers, and former militants' memories, and upon verifying the claims for the violation of national sovereignty we found that these were the main cloak that concealed the racial aspect of these anti-Semitic movements, both in the 1960s and in recent years. Furthermore, the role of anti-Zionism as a facade is particularly relevant in this context. Lastly, contemporary memoirs reveal attempts to downplay, omit, or silence the perpetration of anti-Semitic violence.

Losers of globalization? Politics in the Prosecco Hills region in Italy as a case of radical right-wing populism in a (wealthy) rural area

Losers of globalization? Politics in the Prosecco Hills region in Italy as a case of radical right-wing populism in a (wealthy) rural area

A spectre of democracy: are populist citizens less supportive of democracy?

In academic and public debates, populism has been portrayed both as a threat and a corrective to democracy. In the article, this debate is approached from the perspective of citizens’ attitudes and it is asked whether more populist citizens are less supportive of democracy. Using data from an original 6-country panel, robust evidence is presented that populism is indeed negatively related to democratic regime preferences. By disentangling populist attitudes, however, a more nuanced picture is offered and it is highlighted that not all forms and sub-dimensions of populism present a threat to democracy. It is primarily right-wing populism and the Manichaean outlook on society that are negatively related to diffuse support for democracy in the general public. This underlines the need for democratic societies to address the dangers of an exclusionary populism and the radical polarisation inherent in a Manichaean worldview.

“Here” Versus “There”: Authoritarian Populism, Environment, and Scapegoat Ecology Among Loggers of Northwestern Russia

This case study contributes to the research on the environmental beliefs of extractive industry workers in an illiberal populist regime. This research is based on semi-structured interviews with logging sector workers of the Russian Northwest—a severely understudied population directly involved in resource extraction. The data shows that these workers understand forestland as two separate localities: the northwestern region of Russia, in which the loggers have expertise and knowledge, and the rest of the country, in which workers don’t have any work or travel experience. This division facilitates a process of hybridization of populist environmental narratives on one hand, and loggers’ science-supported knowledge and experiences on the other. This hybridization of the workers’ beliefs is anchored in, and perpetuated by, Russia’s state-controlled media and its modern authoritarian populist regime. This research offers policy implications and encourages future studies on the politicization of the environment and resources in authoritarian populist states.

Moral panic and (in)security

Abstract This study examines Trump’s depiction of Hispanic and Latinx immigrants, highlighting his use of moral panic to activate fear and thereby deepen societal divisions within a broader right-wing populist agenda. Analyzing nearly half a million words from Trump’s tweets using corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis, the research reveals that he portrays Hispanic and Latinx immigrants as the ‘object of offence,’ amplifying their perceived threat while ‘scapegoating’ political adversaries and other nations. As a ‘moral entrepreneur,’ he and his allies position themselves as protectors against this perceived danger, warning of severe ‘consequences’ for national security and the economy if left unaddressed. Their ‘corrective action’ involves implementing strict immigration policies, with the ‘desired outcome’ being enhanced security and economic prosperity. The study demonstrates how the deployment of moral panic generates public fear and insecurity, legitimizing anti-immigrant sentiments and justifying stringent measures. This, in turn, reinforces right-wing populism narratives with significant societal implications.

Further evidence that system justification decreases among extreme conservatives and the role of national populism

AbstractThis article replicates and extends previous results indicating that system justification, in a pool of non‐American samples, decreases at the extremes of the political continuum. Data came from 29 European countries enrolled in nine rounds of the European Social Survey from 2002 to 2018. Results indicated that right‐wingers were more likely to support the existing social system than left‐wingers. However, a significant and negative quadratic effect emerged indicating that system justification decreased among extremists in both left and right‐leaning poles. Findings also revealed that the level of national populist voting moderated the relationship between political orientation and system justification so that the difference between extreme leftists and extreme rightists was further reduced when national populist voting was higher. Results seem to confirm that extremists can be critical of the existing social system and that this trend is affected by the level of the rise in populism in those countries. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

Socialism's legacy: the impact of political socialization on citizens’ conceptions of democracy

ABSTRACT Political culture literature asserts that congruence between the existing democratic system and citizens’ views and expectations of democracy is crucial for democratic stability. Consequently, citizens’ conceptions of democracy not only influence political attitudes or vote choice, but also the endurance of democracy. For the German case, research has shown that differences in political socialization in East and West have caused differences in what conceptions of democracy citizens hold, suggesting that attitudes of young generations socialized in re-unified Germany are converging. However, persistent disparities between East and West and a surge in support for the right-wing populist AfD, especially in East Germany, raise the questions of how sustainable political socialization effects are, and how a populist conception of democracy might be related to political socialization. Using ESS 10 data, the article tests cohort effects on a liberal, a social democratic, and a populist understanding of democracy in Germany. The results show that cohorts socialized in a socialist system are more committed to a socialist, but also to a populist conception of democracy, while attitudes of young people are indeed converging.

Anti-Immigration Agenda in the Rhetoric of European Right-Wing Populism: The Case of the “True Finns” Party

Anti-Immigration Agenda in the Rhetoric of European Right-Wing Populism: The Case of the “True Finns” Party

Why Populism is the Sugar, Salt, and Fat of Our Politics. . . with Variations: A Reflection

Populism is hard to contain in democracies because it is the sugar, salt, and fat of contemporary politics. I borrow from research on ultraprocessed foods to develop this metaphor. The modern food industry creates ultraprocessed foods by oversupplying naturally occurring macronutrients (sugar, salt, and fat) and recombining them to create new foods that are distortions of the real thing. These new pretend foods are both addictive and toxic. Likewise, I argue that authoritarian-populist leaders take natural tenets of democracy—for example, policies to help the voiceless (sugar), competition against opponents (salt), and reform agenda saturation (fat)—and supply them in combinations and quantities that end up distorting democracy. The result is a new regime that veers easily into authoritarianism (toxicity) while in the process generating hard-core followership (addictiveness). I also discuss the way authoritarian populists from both the left and the right have emulated each other since the 1980s, while introducing their own tweaks to their steals. In the end, despite important differences, both left and right-wing populism are far more similar to each other than they each care to recognize.

The anti-gender movement and the populist radical right in Italy: a symbiotic relationship

The political landscape of Italy experienced a seismic shift in the September 2022 elections, marking a watershed moment. Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the populist radical right party (PRRP) Brothers of Italy, was elected as Italy’s head of government. This event highlighted a significant development in the country’s gender politics, reflecting the ascent of PRRPs across Europe, marked by their reactionary politics, emphasis on traditional values and staunch opposition to gender equality. This study focuses on the dynamics between PRRPs (Brothers of Italy and the League) and the anti-gender movement in Italy. Through a qualitative content analysis of the primary sources of political parties and movements, the research explores their symbiotic relationship, the linkage and adjustment mechanisms employed by both actors, and the political outcomes of their interactions, offering insights into the mobilization of anti-gender actors and their alliance with PRRPs. It contributes to understanding how the organized opposition to gender equality is mainstreamed within political spheres, especially in contexts where right-wing populists hold power.

Unravelling anti-feminist social network in Turkey: An Analysis of Actors, relationships and political influence

ABSTRACT The surge of right-wing populism and illiberalism has fuelled the rise of anti-feminist movements in the past decade. This phenomenon has been particularly prominent in Turkey under President Erdoğan and his conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP). However, until the past few years, existing research has largely neglected the role of social actors in Turkey, especially due to the top-down perspective of anti-feminism. Contributing the burgeoning studies, our aim is to explain anti-feminist social mobilization in the context of a strong top-down anti-feminist stance. Our findings revealed the existence of an anti-feminist social network in Turkey, which effectively exercises political influence through creating social reactions and mobilizing a broader public. This mobilization also confers legitimacy to the anti-feminist policies. Additionally, political actors shape network dynamics and interrelationships by creating exocentric hubs within the social network. Importantly, our research shows the significance of social actors in complementing strong top-down stances, even in environments characterized by pervasive ideological undercurrents.