A few years ago, Germany hardly had any significant populist radical right or extreme right parties in its parliaments. Now, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has strong local and regional roots and is represented in 14 of 16 state parliaments and in the Bundestag. The AfD: an imminent threat to democracy in Germany? Recent polls for the upcoming 2024 state elections in Brandenburg, Thuringia and Saxony show the AfD as the strongest force in all three states, with support of up to 32% and 35%. Contrary to the oft-repeated perception that the AfD is an East German phenomenon, recent elections in Hesse and Bavaria in October of this year, where the party secured 18.4% and 14.6% respectively, coupled with national …

Geert Wilders’ PVV comes first in Dutch elections for the first time In the recent general election in the Netherlands, the far-right Party for Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV), led by Geert Wilders, won as many as 37 of the 150 seats in the lower house of parliament, with 25 per cent of the vote, more than double its 11 per cent in the 2021 election. The PVV has about half of the 76 seats needed for a majority. The victory comes after Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who has led the “frugal” country for 13 years, surprised everyone by announcing his intention to resign and retire from politics. In second place is the Green-Labour alliance, consisting of the Labour …

Several countries around the world have recently witnessed very public displays of radical right behaviour. For example, during a protest in Chemnitz, Germany, in the summer of 2018, some demonstrators were seen giving a Nazi salute. Similarly, a year earlier during a protest in Charlottesville, VA, Charlottesville, VA, United States some demonstrators displayed confederate flags and swastikas. What explains this increased willingness to openly express radical right views? Explicit support for the radical right: A reflection of changing perceptions of the cost of support In a recent paper, I argue that these trends do not necessarily mean that individuals in these societies are becoming more extremist. They may also reflect a weakening of social norms against the expression of radical …

Much research has established that radical right parties tend to act as anti-feminist actors, opposing feminist policy proposals, but also instrumentalise certain feminist policy goals for their own objectives. Research is more inconclusive about the gender values of radical right voters. Does feminism even matter to these voters? If so, what are their stances? In my recently published article, I use interviews with radical right voters to investigate these questions. In recent years and across various democracies, the rise of the radical right and its implications for women’s and LGBTQI+ rights have become increasingly important. A growing group of people are voting for these often openly anti-feminist parties. While much research shows that these voters are most strongly motivated by …