The political and policy impacts of extreme right parties in time and context

Abstract

Impact of Extreme Right Parties makes a welcome contribution to the growing scholarship that assesses the impacts of extreme right parties (ERPs) on inter-party competition, public opinion and public policy. Although it commendably avoids the pitfall of overestimating the political significance of ERPs, several criticisms of the book nevertheless can be raised. First, it is disquieting that its analysis of the impacts of ERPs within its chosen three countries covers less than a decade. Second, the reader may come away questioning its ultimate contribution to our understanding of the staying power of ERPs. Third, it is reasonable to ask if in investigating the impacts of ERPs on inter-party competition and public opinion the book is simply accumulating evidence for the much more important question of their impact on public policy. Finally, it is unfortunate that the possible effects of ERPs on partisan and party system dealignment are not considered.

Keywords:

• extreme right parties
• immigration
• policy impacts
• party system dealignment
• partisan dealignment
• multicultural society

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anthony M. Messina

ANTHONY M. MESSINA is the John R. Reitemeyer Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.