Abstract
This chapter shows that the rise and fall of populist radical right parties across Western Europe can be explained under the auspices of a valid and reliable two-level theory. The electoral advances of nationalist parties such as the Front National (FN), the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) and the Alternative for Germany (AfD) are dependent on the interaction and political messaging of established political parties in salient debates about identity politics. Proving the generalizability of the findings, this chapter applies the two-level theory to recent political developments in Germany and the United Kingdom. The theory can perfectly account for the ups and downs of UKIP and the AfD in recent years and can explain the political mechanisms behind Brexit and the German refugee debate. The political earthquakes that shake Western Europe are comparable and are grounded in different incentives for established parties to politicize identity politics.
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Notes
- 1.
The elaborations on the AfD largely rely on the writing of the author published elsewhere. Citations to the relevant publications are listed at the end of the respective text parts.
- 2.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, February 2, 2010, p. 1.
- 3.
The Financial Times (FT) argues that during certain meetings in 2010 and 2011, German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU/CSU) felt blackmailed by US and European partners. The FT reports that Western leaders were trying to push Merkel to significantly increase Germany’s financial commitment to safeguarding the euro area with few guarantees from southern European economies in return. These experiences might have led Merkel to refrain from devoting substantial political energy to communicating Germany’s commitment to European solidarity. Financial Times series “How the Euro was saved”: http://www.ft.com/indepth/how-euro-was-saved (last accessed May 7, 2017).
- 4.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, May 20, 2010, p. 1.
- 5.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, October 10, 2010, FAZ online.
- 6.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, June 6, 2011, p. 4.
- 7.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, July 21, 2011, p. 10.
- 8.
See footnote 19.
- 9.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, November 5, 2011, p. 2.
- 10.
Daily Telegraph, October 5, 2009, p. 7.
- 11.
Daily Telegraph, October 26, 2009, p. 19.
- 12.
Daily Telegraph, June 22, 2010, p. 4.
- 13.
Daily Telegraph, October 30, 2010, p. 19.
- 14.
Daily Telegraph, October 5, 2011, p. 14.
- 15.
Daily Telegraph, October 29, 2011, p. 1.
- 16.
Daily Telegraph, November 10, 2011, p. 6.
- 17.
Daily Telegraph, December 8, 2011, p. 1.
- 18.
Daily Telegraph, June 13, 2012, p. 1.
- 19.
Daily Telegraph, July 20, 2012, p. 10.
- 20.
Daily Telegraph, December 20, 2012, p. 1.
- 21.
Daily Telegraph, December 10, 2011, p. 1.
- 22.
Daily Telegraph, January 24, 2013, p. 21.
- 23.
Daily Telegraph, January 25, 2013, p. 4.
- 24.
Daily Telegraph, October 9, 2013, p. 20.
- 25.
Daily Telegraph, November 30, 2013, p. 2.
- 26.
Daily Telegraph, July 24, 2014, p. 4.
- 27.
Daily Telegraph, November 11, 2014, p. 1.
- 28.
Daily Telegraph, October 29, 2014, p. 4.
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Lochocki, T. (2018). Generalizing the Findings: Explaining the Rise of UKIP and the AfD. In: The Rise of Populism in Western Europe. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62855-4_9
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