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ECPR Workshop : Democracy and The New Extremist Challenge in Europe

This paper analyzes the trayectory of two political parties of the new radical right in European party systems—the Vlaams Blok and the Lega Nord—during the past decade. First, under the label identity politics, the paper examines the type of nationalism and anti-migrant rhetoric of both political parties, the two most controversial aspects of their core ideology. The paper identifies the similarities and differences in the identity politics of both parties and shows an ideological convergence between the Vlaams Blok and Lega Nord during the 1990s. Second, the paper examines the role of party elites in the radicalization and moderation of party demands. It explains the elite strategic dilemmas of Lega Nord and the Vlaams Blok in light of internal (party organizations) and external (political space) considerations. Third, the paper shows how varieties of extremism within the new right emerged in European party systems upon the basis of different aspects of the identity politics of both parties. Different polarization processes pushed the two political parties into varieties of extremism and anti-system politics: in the Italian case, the question of Padanian nationalism, the secession and independence of Padania; in the Flemish case, the racism of the Vlaams Blok. The impact of these polarization processes for the ‘stigma’ of these parties and their normalisation in pluralist democracies is examined. The paper uses primary sources in the form of party documents and personal interviews with members of party elites. The questionnaire is available upon request. Transcripts from interviews in Italian and Dutch are also available after publication (for the complete list of interviewees and party documents see appendix). The paper uses press coverage of Lega Nord (from Il Corriere della Sera and L’Indipendente ), and of the Vlaams Blok (from De Morgen and De Standaard). Secondary sources on public opinion and party voters are also used: for the Vlaams Blok, the research and publications of the ISPO, Departement Sociologie, K.U. Leuven; for Lega Nord, a variety of surveys published during the 1990s. All translations throughout the text are mine.