Documents Mudde, Cas 4 results

"Key findings
• Some European far-right parties might increasingly talk left-wing but they continue largely to vote right-wing on socio-economic issues.
• Despite heterogeneity within the two far-right political groups in the European Parliament (2019–2024) – Identity and Democracy (ID) and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) – overall, it remains the case that the far right is clearly unsupportive of workers' rights. The large majority of 18 far-right parties (out of 22) have voted against socio-economic initiatives at the European level.
• Although far-right Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) largely vote homogenously within their party, we find considerable heterogeneity on key socio-economic issues within ID and ECR, in particular on the issues of minimum corporate taxation for multinational companies and adequate minimum wages.
• While regional differences are relatively small, far-right parties in Northern Europe are particularly prone to voting right-wing on socio-economic issues.
• Poor voting discipline within the two groups indicates that socio-economic issues are not central to either ID or ECR."

"With a proliferation of scholarly work focusing on populist, far-left, and far-right parties, questions have arisen about the correct ways to ideologically classify such parties. To ensure transparency and uniformity in research, the discipline could benefit from a systematic procedure. In this letter, we discuss how we have employed the method of ‘Expert-informed Qualitative Comparative Classification' (EiQCC) to construct the newest version of The PopuList (3.0) – a database of populist, far-left, and far-right parties in Europe since 1989. This method takes into account the in-depth knowledge of national party experts while allowing for systematic comparative analysis across cases and over time. We also examine how scholars have made use of the previous versions of the dataset, explain how the new version of The PopuList differs from previous ones, and compare it to other data. We conclude with a discussion of the strengths and limitations of The PopuList dataset."

"The far right is back with a vengeance. After several decades at the political margins, far-right politics has again taken center stage. Three of the world's largest democracies - Brazil, India, and the United States - now have a radical right leader, while far-right parties continue to increase their profile and support within Europe.
In this timely book, leading global expert on political extremism Cas Mudde provides a concise overview of the fourth wave of postwar far-right politics, exploring its history, ideology, organization, causes, and consequences, as well as the responses available to civil society, party, and state actors to challenge its ideas and influence. What defines this current far-right renaissance, Mudde argues, is its mainstreaming and normalization within the contemporary political landscape. Challenging orthodox thinking on the relationship between conventional and far-right politics, Mudde offers a complex and insightful picture of one of the key political challenges of our time."

"In June 2024, EU citizens will vote in the European Parliament elections – two years into Russia's war in Ukraine and on European values, after the COVID-19 pandemic and the finalisation of Brexit, and with the possibility of Donald Trump winning the US presidential election later this year. In a turbulent geopolitical environment, the European Parliament elections will reshape the political landscape in Brussels, where traditional parties are being challenged and an increasing tilt towards right-wing governance is unmistakable. The current European Commission has adopted several major legislative initiatives, but a new Commission may set new priorities and take a different political direction. In the lead-up to the elections, this Forum focuses on some of the issues that will take centre stage for voters and define the next phase of European politics."