Mining Populisms

by Andrei Mogoutov, Anton Sokolov, David Moats, Elena Morenkova Perrier, Ellen Rutten, Johan Söderberg, Luis F. Alvarez-Leon, Richard Rogers, Saskia Kok, Simeona Petkova & Stefania Bercu.

Introduction

Right-wing Europe is rising. In a 2011 study, Demos, the British think tank, characterized the new populism in the following terms.

"Over the last decade, populist parties have been growing in strength across Western Europe. These parties are defined by their opposition to immigration and concern for protecting national and European culture, sometimes using the language of human rights and freedom. On economic policy, they are often critical of globalisation and the effects of international capitalism on workers’ rights. This is combined with ‘anti-establishment’ rhetoric and language. Often called ‘populist extremist parties’ or ‘the new right’, these parties do not fit easily into the traditional political divides." (Demos, 2011)

The observations are based on a study of the new right, comprised of the following parties and groups:
Bloc Identitaire
British National Party
CasaPound Italia
Dansk Folkeparti (‘Danish People’s Party’)
Die Freiheit
English Defence League
Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs
(FPO; ‘Austrian Freedom Party’)
Fremskrittspartiet (‘Norwegian Progress Party’)
Front National
Lega Nord
Partij voor de Vrijheid (PVV or ‘Dutch Freedom Party)
Perussuomalaiset (‘True Finns’)
Sverigedemokraterna (‘Sweden Democrats’)
Vlaams Belang (‘Flemish Interest’)

Here we expand the list to include more countries in Europe as well as on Europe's borders.

Questions

We are interested in filling in more specifically the language of the new populists. To what extent do these groups discuss immigration and the protection of national and/or European culture? How and in which senses do they use the "language of human rights and freedom"? How do they phrase their concern for "globalization and the effects of international capitalism on workers' rights"?

More specifically, we ask:
What is the relation between groups on the ballot and on the fringe? Do they share common language? How fringe are the ballot parties and how ballot are the fringe?

How mainstream are the parties? Which of the parties on the ballot is the most extreme and which one on the fringe is the most 'typical'?

One outcome could be an "issue profile" of right-wing populism. Another is a relative measure of how extremist (in language use) are the parties on the ballot. Do the parties' issues overlap with the fringe's?

Generally, our findings resonate with Demos's in terms of the discussion of the national as well as "freedom, globalisation and the effects of international capitalism on workers’ rights." However, we found that there is little in the way of "rights talk."

Method

1) Compile lists of populist and extremist parties and groups per country, where parties refer to those "on the ballot" and groups to those "on the fringe," which is the distinction employed in the Time Magazine article of 29 July 2011 on Europe's right wing. This distinction is convenient for thinking about the significance of the groups. Another consideration, of course, is whether the party is in Parliament, either in its respective country or in the European parliament.

2) Locate and save the party manifestoes (to the dropbox).

3) Manually extract the main issues from each manifesto. List these issues, comma separated, in the Google spreadsheet.

BRITAIN

On the ballot:
British National Party http://www.bnp.org.uk/

On the fringe:
English Defence League http://englishdefenceleague.org/
English Democratic Party, http://www.englishdemocraticparty.org.uk/
British Freedom Party http://britishfreedom.org/
Britain First http://www.britainfirst.org/ (break away group from British Freedom)

FRANCE

On the ballot:
Front National (National Front) http://www.frontnational.com/

On the fringe:
Nomad 88 (defunct, in jail)
Bloc Identitaire http://www.bloc-identitaire.com/
Alsace D’abord http://www.alsacedabord.org/http://www.alsacedabord.org/le-mouvement/le-programme/
NISSA REBELA http://www.nissarebela.com

GERMANY

On the ballot:
Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (National Democratic Party of Germany) http://www.npd.de/

On the fringe:
Autonome Nationalisten http://logr.org/anwetzlar/


THE NETHERLANDS

On the ballot:

Nederlandse Volks-Unie: http://www.nvu.info/

Partij Voor de Vrijheid (PVV): http://www.pvv.nl/

Trots op Nederland: http://www.trotsopnederland.com/

NORWAY

On the ballot:

Fremskrittspartiet http://www.frp.no/

On the fringe:

Vigrid http://www.vigridtvedt.net/

BELGIUM

On the ballot:

Nieuw- Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA) http://www.n-va.be/

Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) http://www.vlaamsbelang.org/ (from Time article)

On the fringe:

Neonazistische Nieuw- Solidaristisch Alternatief (N-SA) http://nsalternatief.wordpress.com/

Neonazist according to various sites.

NSV! Antwerpen (NSV!) http://www.nsv-antwerpen.org/

Nationalistisch JongStudentenVerbond (NJSV) http://www.njsv.org/

Het Vlaams Huis : http://www.njsv.org/

Démocratie Nationale (DN) formerly Front National (FN) : http://www.dnat.be/ [not sure if on ballot]

RUSSIA

On the ballot:
None

On the fringe: (All radical political parties in Russia are on the fringe in the sense that they are on the list of FSB as extremists((http://nak.fsb.ru/nac/ter_org.htm)

National Bolchevik Party: http://www.nbp-info.ru/

National People's Party: http://nnpr.su/

Russia National Socialist Party : http://www.nationalism.org/rnsp/display_ENG.htm

BELARUS

On the ballot:
None

On the fringe:

National Bolchevism http://belnb.org/

Revolutionary action http://belarus.avtonom.org/

UKRAINE

On the ballot:
Ukrainian movement "Liberty" http://www.svoboda.org.ua/ (0 places in Parlement but have some representatives in municipalities)
Congress of Ukrainian nationalists http://cun.org.ua/2005/ukrayina-i-gruziya-pidpisali-protokol-pro-vilnu-torgivlyu/ (0 places but officially registered party)
Ukrainian national assembly - Ukrainian national autodefense http://www.unaunso.org/

On the fringe:
Ukrainian national bolchevik party http://vk.com/club6195254
Ukrainian national union http://www.naso.org.ua/kiev/

ESTONIA

On the fringe:

Öine vahtkond (Nochnoy Dozor - Night watch) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nochnoy_Dozor_(group)fringe (group)

Estonian Independence Party http://www.iseseisvuspartei.ee/fringe

Natsionaalbolševistlik Partei http://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natsionaalbol%C5%A1evistlik_Parteifringe (party listed as extremist movement by Estonian police)

FINLAND

On the ballot:

The True Finns http://www.perussuomalaiset.fi/

SPAIN
On the Ballot:

Plataforma per Catalunya (PxC) (www.pxcatalunya.com)

Espana 2000 (www.esp2000.org)

Democracia Nacional (www.democracianacional.org)

Derecha Navarra y Española (DNE) (http://www.derechanavarra.es)

Alternativa Española (http://www.alternativaespanola.com)

Movimiento Social Republicano (http://www.msr.org.es)

On the Fringe:

PORTUGAL:

On the Ballot:

Centro Democrático e Social - Partido Popular (http://www.cds.pt)

Partido Nacional Renovador (PNR) (http://www.pnr.pt)

On the Fringe:

SERBIA:

On the Ballot:

Serbian Progressive Party (SNS): http://sns.org.rs

Serbian Renewal Movement: http://www.spo.rs

New Serbia http://www.nova-srbija.org

United Serbia http://www.jedinstvenasrbija.org.rs

Movement of Veterans of Serbia http://www.pv.rs (1 seat)

On the Fringe:

Serbian Radical Party: http://www.srpskaradikalnastranka.org.rs

BULGARIA:

On the Ballot:

National Union Attack http://www.ataka.bg

Order, Law and Justice http://www.rzs.bg

On the fringe:

IMRO – Bulgarian National Movement http://vmro.bg

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA:

On the Ballot:

Bosnian Party: (multi-ethnic left populist): http://www.boss.ba

Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnian): http://www.zabih.ba

Party of Democratic Action (Bosnian): http://sda.ba

Serbian Democratic Party (Serbian under sanctions of USA):http://www.sdsrs.com

Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Croatian): http://www.hdzbih.org

On the Fringe:

Serbian Radical Party of the Republika Srpska (Serbian): http://www.srs-rs.org

Croatian Right Bloc (Croatian): http://www.hrvatskipravasi.hr

No idea:

Bosnian-Herzegovinian Patriotic Party-Sefer Halilović: http://www.bps-sh.com.ba

Democratic People's Alliance (Serbian): http://www.dnsrs.org

Suspended:

Alliance of Independent Social Democrats: http://www.snsd.org

KOSOVO:

On The Ballot:

Vetëvendosje: http://www.vetevendosje.org

On the Fringe:

none

MACEDONIA:

On the Ballot:

Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization http://vmro-dpmne.org.mk

On the Fringe:

National Democratic Party http://dpm.org.rs

TURKEY:

On the Ballot:

The Nationalist Movement Party: http://www.mhp.org.tr

On the Fringe:

Homeland Party: http://www.yurtpartisi.org.tr

Nation Party:http://www.milletpartisi.org

The National Party:http://www.ulusalparti.net/

The Young Party:http://www.cenkuzan.tr.gg/

GREECE

On the ballot: Golden Dawn
http://www.xryshaygh.com/

Fringe:

Ε.ΛΑ.Μ. Εθνικό Λαϊκό Μέτωπο
www.elamcy.com

DENMARK:

Ballot:

Dansk Folkeparti http://www.danskfolkeparti.dk/

ROMANIA

Partidul Romania Mare ballot http://www.partidulromaniamare.ro

Partidul Noua Generatie ballot http://www.png.ro/

Partidul Alianta Socialista ballot http://www.pasro.ro/

Noii Golani fringe http://www.noiigolani.ro

Garda de Fier fringe http://www.miscarea.net

Gruparea Zelea Codreanu fringe http://grupareacodreanu.ro

Partidul Totul Pentru Tara fringe http://www.pentrupatrie.ro

Noua Dreapta fringe http://www.nouadreapta.org/

Findings

As a first step we generated a tag cloud to illustrate an "issue profile" of right-wing populism. Below is a plain text version of this tag cloud - attached is also a PDF version for better graphical representation. This tag cloud is revealing as a first approach to the platforms of right-wing populist parties in Europe. On the most superficial level, the frequency of the issues which they foreground constitutes a picture consistent with the values highlighted in the literature (Demos 2011, et al). Some of the most prominent terms are national, social, state, people, family, immigration and identity. The concern for these issues reinforces the notions previously noted of resistance to change, search for stable and cohesive social structures and their rootedness in a shared past. A further breakdown is presented below where we have separated the parties by those who are in the ballot and those on the fringe to explore the similarities and differences between them in order to interrogate the cohesiveness and continuity of right wing populist politics in Europe.

Right-Wing Populism Issue Profile Tag Cloud

national (26) social (18) state (17) freedom (14) people (13) family (13) russian (12) immigration (11) pro (11) identity (10) nation (10) justice (8) safety (8) culture (8) education (7) health (7) order (7) economic (7) security (7) responsibility (7) development (7) values (6) cultural (6) improvement (6) work (6) policy (6) tax (5) independence (5) agriculture (5) self (5) political (5) rights (5) religious (5) space (5) spiritual (5) law (5) care (5) home (5) destruction (5) european (4) christian (4) new (4) free (4) ethnic (4) homeland (4) right (4) society (4) repatriation (4) race (4) multi (4) sovereignty (4) foreign (4) unity (4) god (4) welfare (4) international (4) heritage (4) individual (4) union (4) living (4) ukraine (4) citizen (3) socialism (3) world (3) autonomy (3) solidarity (3) church (3) ukrainian (3) citizens (3) capitalism (3) support (3) traditions (3) building (3) public (3) liberty (3) low (3) management (3) mass (3) government (3) healthy (3) illegal (3) immigrants (3) historical (3) financial (3) orthodox (3) democracy (3) danish (3) community (3) economy (3) protection (3) patrimony (3) faith (3) environment (3) civil (3)

The following tag cloud represents the issues mentioned by those right wing populist groups on the fringe of their respective electoral systems. We wanted to examine if the fact that they are not on the ballot bears any correlation with a different choice of issues or the use of a different language to refer to them. As the tag cloud suggests these suspicions are warranted. The tag cloud bears striking differences -particularly in the terms with the highest frequency. Chief among those is the use of the word 'russian' in the first place. We speculate that this is a particular function of the repeated use of this word by Russian fringe groups, which sets them apart from their counterparts in the rest of Europe. Another finding is the lack of cohesiveness among the different fringe groups, which can be inferred by the scarcity of high frequency terms, which are in turn present in the aggregate tag cloud. It would seem then that fringe groups represent a diverse group of niche interests that could act both as cause or consequence of their inability to gather more mainstream approval. This preliminary observation can gather further support by noting how the certain words which are a historically conflict-laden or outright taboo (such as aryan, blood and race) appears in this tag cloud, while it is absent from the aggregate right-wing one shown above.

Fringe Right-Wing Populist Groups Issue Tag Cloud

russian (12) people (11) anti (7) state (6) national (5) spiritual (4) social (4) ethnic (4) family (4) nation (4) against (3) patrimony (3) race (3) liberty (3) religious (3) socialism (3) capitalism (3) democracy (3) destruction (3) values (3) economic (3) space (3) cultural (3) ukrainian (3) political (2) work (2) power (2) relations (2) russia (2) sects (2) resurrection (2) renouncing (2) plot (2) traditions (2) multi (2) elections (2) fight (2) free (2) development (2) community (2) aryan (2) blood (2) capital (2) from (2) goods (2) independence (2) nordic (2) order (2) immigration (2) immigrants (2) great (2) healthy (2) identity (2) orthodox (2)

Ballot Right-Wing Populist Groups Issue Tag Cloud

national (21) social (14) freedom (13) state (11) immigration (10) family (10) system (10) identity (8) safety (8) justice (7) responsibility (7) education (7) security (7) culture (7) policy (6) improvement (6) nation (6) health (6) order (5) development (5) against (5) care (5) agriculture (5) home (5) economic (4) heritage (4) self (4) more (4) sovereignty (4) rights (4) ukraine (4) work (4) society (4) right (4) international (3) interest (3) independence (3) public (3) union (3) unity (3) values (3) welfare (3) solidarity (3) repatriation (3) management (3) political (3) protection (3) government (3) living (3) individual (3) financial (3) danish (3) european (3) christian (3) economy (3) autonomy (3) foreign (3) citizens (3) from (3) cultural (3) environment (3) constitution (2) conservation (2) civil (2) sources (2) service (2) countries (2) current (2) religious (2) rejection (2) criminals (2) criminal (2) space (2) crime (2) constitutional (2) support (2) wage (2) between (2) building (2) will (2) with (2) world (2) animals (2) unit (2) bureaucracy (2) citizen (2) spanish (2) church (2) taxation (2) tolerance (2) territory (2) spain (2) private (2) integration (2) active (2) independent (2) integrity (2) interests (2) equality (2) just (2) europe (2) faith (2) increase (2) holland (2) historical (2) global (2) free (2) homeland (2) flemish (2) illegal (2) liberties (2) life (2) determination (2) people (2) develop (2) destruction (2) globalization (2) protect (2) products (2) natural (2) dignified (2) market (2) entrepreneurs (2) local (2) mass (2) massive (2) energy (2) monarchy (2) denmark (2)