1. Introduction; 2. Activists and party development; 3. Parties of poor souls; 4. Nationalist subcultures; 5. Party transformation and flash parties; 6. Reforming the old right?; 7. Conclusion; Appendix A. Percentage of the vote for radical right parties in national parliamentary elections; Appendix B. Coding procedure for radical right party lists; Appendix C. ISCO codes for radical right candidates for office.
This book analyzes the dynamics of party building and explores the attitudes, skills and experiences of radical right activists in eleven countries.
David Art is Associate Professor of Political Science at Tufts University. He is the author of The Politics of the Nazi Past in Germany and Austria (Cambridge University Press, 2006), as well as articles on the radical right in journals such as Comparative Politics, German Politics and Society and Party Politics. Art is co-convenor of the European Consortium for Political Research's Standing Group on Extremism and Democracy. During 2008–9, he was a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute and has been awarded grants from the Fulbright Program, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University.
'In Inside the Radical Right, David Art takes up the pressing issue
of the radical right in Europe. Rather than focusing primarily on
issues like unemployment, globalization, and immigration, Art
provocatively argues that the key to understanding these parties'
differing fates are factors internal to the parties themselves, and
the ways in which other actors in the political system respond to
them. Art's book shows that rising radicalism is not an inevitable
outcome of changing economic, social, or political contexts, but is
in fact critically shaped by the ways in which parties and other
political actors in a political system respond to the challenges
they face. Scholars of European politics, the radical right, and
social movements more generally will find this book of great
value.' Sheri Berman, Barnard College
'David Art's book constitutes a groundbreaking comparative study of
the radical right. It will make an immediate contribution to a
vibrant field that, until now, has not adequately explained why
some far right movements succeed while others fail. Art's account,
which emphasizes both historical legacies and contemporary
activists, is well-researched, convincingly argued, and forcefully
presented. Inside the Radical Right sets a new standard for
research in this area.' Marc Morjé Howard, Georgetown
University
'Activists and the party organizations they create matter for the
electoral success of radical right parties. Art develops his thesis
with great skill and considerable comparative empirical scope and
refinement. His provocative thesis will stir controversy … as to
the extent to which it displaces or complements existing
explanations of radical right party fortunes.' Herbert Kitschelt,
Duke University
'David Art has pulled off an important theoretical and
methodological achievement. In his wide-ranging twelve-country
study of Europe's radical right that is based on impressive
in-depth field research, he crafts a new insight: the rise of a
country's radical right cannot be explained merely with reference
to mass sentiments or to electoral institutions alone. Instead he
pinpoints the crucial importance of the organization and internal
distribution of party activists. The result is a superb
contribution that both convincingly rethinks under what conditions
the radical right succeeds in Europe and more broadly offers
insights for the comparative literature on political parties and
the stability of democratic politics more generally.' Daniel
Ziblatt, Harvard University
'In this book, David Art takes on the challenge of explaining the
development of radical right parties in eleven countries in Western
Europe … this is a well-written book that goes far in examining an
important aspect of political party development through a set of
parties that once were thought to be only a 'flash in the pan' but
have persisted in a way that has often defied the expectations of
political analysts across Europe. This book adds another piece to
the puzzle of understanding what is clearly a complicated set of
processes, existing both in the national context and in response to
global challenges that influence voters in their search for a party
that will address their interests.' Terri E. Givens, Culture and
Society
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