The rise of right-wing populism - a notion that has been observed as an unhealthy (pg 70) development for democracy due to its authoritarian tendencies and polarising nature - can have a positive effect on voter turnout by mobilising a politically disaffected electorate. This by no means justifies the establishment of right-wing populism but instead acknowledges its ability to enhance political participation at times when conventional parties have failed to do so.
The emerging populist right:
Since the 1980s, across Europe, the process of globalisation and European integration has given rise to a number of cultural and political grievances relating to Euroscepticism, anti-immigration and now Islamophobia. These issues have been mostly neglected (ch 5) by mainstream parties leaving voters increasingly dissatisfied with their political establishment.
This is when right-wing populist parties emerge. They take advantage of this discourse and enter the political arena by taking “ownership” (pg 206) of these issues. The result is a rhetoric that claims to restore sovereignty in the name of the people by strengthening national borders and excluding foreign nationals from the collective good of the state. This enables right-wing populist parties to provide a voice to disaffected voters who have felt ignored by their political establishment. In doing so, right-wing parties exacerbate the divide between disaffected voters and mainstream parties, consequently amplifying their own support. The line graph below (figure 1) demonstrates that the support for right-wing populist parties in Europe has been steadily increasing over time at the expense of the mainstream left and right.
The rise of the Alternative for Germany Party (AfD):
This can be applied to the political system in Germany especially following the 2015 refugee crisis. The softening of national borders and the influx of refugees, combined with increasing Islamophobia (pg 19) created a group of politically disaffected German voters that felt threatened and disadvantaged by processes of immigration and globalisation. To plug this gap, AfD - a well-known right-wing populist party, took advantage of this discourse.
1. Anti-immigration, Islamophobia, and national identity
The Afd are not afraid to articulate their anti-immigration and xenophobic sentiment towards Muslim refugees that mainstream parties are too reluctant to discuss. According to the ex-leader of the Afd, Frauke Petry, asserted that Muslim refugees bring with them values and attitudes towards women, customs and social work that do not align with Western culture. In fact, AfD used slogans (pg 128) such as “Islam gehoert nicht zu Deutschland” (Islam does not belong in Germany) which resonated with their new supporters. On top of this, under her leadership, the AfD stressed the idea of Leitkultur which can be translated as ‘core culture’. This rejects any form of multiculturalism, and advocates that only German language, culture and identity should be central to German society.
2. The result of the 2017 national election
AfD’s focus on the opposition to Muslim refugees was a pivotal part of their success in mobilising disaffected voters in the 2017 national election. Drawing upon the study of Schulte-Cloos and Leninger (p 439), their results show that in the 2017 national elections, Afd benefitted from a surge of voters with high levels of prior political disaffection. There was a positive correlation between the level of political disaffection in and voter turnout for AfD. Whereas communities with low baseline levels of political disaffection did not have the same effect.
As a result, the Afd became the third largest political party following the 2017 election with 12.6% of the vote. The two mainstream parties, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany and the Social Democratic Party of Germany, both performed poorly with a combined loss of -13.7% of their previous voters since the 2013 national election, reflecting a trend of electoral decline. Thereby enabling the AfD to capture their opponents’ voters.
Is the mobilisation of a disaffected electorate appealing for democracy?
The above study demonstrates that right-wing populism does indeed mobilise a disaffected electorate. But this comes as a danger to democracy. Mobilising a disaffected electorate through right-wing populism provides a platform for parties that hold nativist and racist values, enabling them to enforce policies that restrict the rights of immigrants. In addition, parties such as AfD oppose minority rights including LQBTQ+ rights, women's rights, and religious rights. In the long run, it is perhaps more desirable for disaffected voters that hold radical values to remain immobilised to prevent right-wing populist parties from disrupting democracy and restricting minority rights.