Populism and the New Radical Right: A Necessary Distinction

ABSTRACT

In current political analysis, as well as in discourse, the term populism has become an ‘umbrella term’, embracing a large number of concepts and phenomena. One risk underlying this conceptual stretching is that the term falls into the trap of ‘all-nothing’ and becomes so elastic that populism is used to improperly describe a wide and unrelated variety of phenomena. Some political phenomena might share some characteristics with populist movements but are nevertheless characterised by ideological elements and political projects that are very much in line with the traditional left/right split, as in the case of the new radical right. This article proposes a distinction between the conformational populism typical of some populist parties and the contagious populism typical of the radical right. We argue that in the latter, populism becomes another tool in the arsenal of parties with clearly established identities. Using a comparative approach, we evaluate the programmes, ideological foundations, conception of the people and positions of the 5 Star Movement, The League and the Rassemblement National to illustrate this distinction.

KEYWORDS:

• Populism
• new radical right
• political programs
• ideologies

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. https://web.archive.org/web/20140713205108/http://www.frontnational.com/pdf/Programme.pdf.

2. https://rassemblementnational.fr/pdf/144-engagements.pdf.

3. https://rassemblementnational.fr/pdf/144-engagements.pdf.

4. https://rassemblementnational.fr/pdf/144-engagements.pdf.

5. https://www.repubblica.it/politica/2014/03/26/news/europee_salvini_con_la_le_pen_presto_programma_comune-81956720/.

6. https://www.leganord.org/programma-politiche.

7. https://www.leganord.org/220-notizie/notizie-2019/16648-europee-2019-materiale-download.

8. http://www.beppegrillo.it/2013/07/lotta_di_casta.html.

9. http://www.beppegrillo.it/2014/05/%20punto_7_program.html.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Francesco Maria Scanni

Francesco Maria Scanni is a research fellow at the Department of Political Science, University of Teramo. His main research interests deal with political parties, digitalization, populism and democracy. He has published in various national and international journals, including Administration & Society, Comparative European Politics Politikon and Theoria.