Abstract
This chapter gives a concise overview of the key concepts and theories in the study of political extremism, laying out a typology of democratic and extremist actors and ideologies. It also discusses some of the main democratic responses to non-democratic challenges.
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Notes
- 1.
This text is a slightly edited version of the introduction of a four-volume edited work, Political Extremism (Sage 2013). (Mudde 2013a)
- 2.
See Uwe Backes, Political Extremes: A Conceptual History from Antiquity to the Present. (London: Routledge, 2010). (Backes 2010)
- 3.
For an interesting discussion of the concept of ‘anti-systemness’, see Giovanni Capoccia, ‘Anti-System Parties: A Conceptual Reassessment’, Journal of Theoretical Politics 14, no. 1 (2002): 9–35. (Capoccia 2002)
- 4.
Ronald Wintrobe, Political Extremism: The Political Economy of Radicalism. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006). (Wintrobe 2006)
- 5.
For a more elaborate discussion, see Cas Mudde, ‘Liberal Democracies and the Extremist Challenges of the Early 21st Century’, Nordic Journal of Human Rights 21, no. 4 (2003): 429–40. (Mudde 2003)
- 6.
See James Lutz and Brenda Lutz (eds.), Global Terrorism. (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2008), 4 volumes. (Lutz and Lutz 2008)
- 7.
Manus I. Midlarsky, Origins of Political Extremism: Mass Violence in the Twentieth Century and Beyond. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011). (Midlarsky 2011)
- 8.
See, most notably, Tim Spier, Modernisierungsverlierer? Die Wählerschaft rechtspopulistischer Parteien in Westeuropa. (Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2010). (Spier 2010)
- 9.
For the most elaborate discussion of the normal pathology thesis, see Erwin K. Scheuch and Hans Dieter Klingemann, ‘Theorie des Rechtsradikalismus in westlichen Industriegesellschaften’, Hamburger Jahrbuch für Wirtschafts- und Sozialpolitik 12 (1967): 11–19. (Scheuch and Klingemann 1967)
- 10.
Giovanni Capoccia, Defending Democracy: Reactions to Extremism in Interwar Europe. (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005). (Capoccia 2005)
Bibliography
Backes, Uwe. Political Extremes: A Conceptual History from Antiquity to the Present. London: Routledge, 2010.
Capoccia, Giovanni. ‘Anti-System Parties: A Conceptual Reassessment’. Journal of Theoretical Politics 14, no. 1 (2002): 9–35.
Capoccia, Giovanni. Defending Democracy: Reactions to Extremism in Interwar Europe. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005.
Lutz, James and Brenda Lutz, eds. Global Terrorism. Vol. 4. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2008.
Midlarsky, Manus I. Origins of Political Extremism: Mass Violence in the Twentieth Century and Beyond. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011.
Mudde, Cas. ‘Liberal Democracies and the Extremist Challenges of the Early 21st Century’. Nordic Journal of Human Rights 21, no. 4 (2003): 429–40.
Mudde, Cas. Political Extremism. Vol. 4. London: Sage, 2013a.
Scheuch, Erwin K. and Hans Dieter Klingemann. ‘Theorie des Rechtsradikalismus in westlichen Industriegesellschaften’. Hamburger Jahrbuch für Wirtschafts- und Sozialpolitik 12 (1967): 11–19.
Spier, Tim. Modernisierungsverlierer? Die Wählerschaft rechtspopulistischer Parteien in Westeuropa. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2010.
Wintrobe, Ronald. Political Extremism: The Political Economy of Radicalism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
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Mudde, C. (2017). About Liberal Democracy and Extremism. In: SYRIZA. Reform and Transition in the Mediterranean. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47479-3_4
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