Voting Radical Right in Western Europe

Download or read book Voting Radical Right in Western Europe written by Terri E. Givens and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-10-10 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The economic and political conditions that have led to the rise of radical right parties exist in similar form and intensity all over Europe. Yet, radical right parties have only been successful in a few countries. The Republikaner party's less than 2% of the vote is much lower than the National Front's high of 15% and the Freedom Party's 27% of the vote in national legislative elections. Why do such a small percentage of voters choose the radical right in Germany? Why is the radical right winning more seats in Austria than in France and Germany? The main argument in this book is that radical right parties will have difficulty attracting voters and winning seats in electoral systems that encourage strategic voting and/or strategic coordination by the mainstream parties. The analysis demonstrates that electoral systems and party strategy play a key role in the success of the radical right.