The Extreme Right in Britain Essay examples

The First and Second Red Scare of the United States paved the way for a long standing fear of communism and proved to be one of America’s largest periods of mass hysteria. Throughout the years authors and analysts have studied and formed expository albeit argumentative books and articles in an attempt to further understand this period of time; the mindset held during this period however is shown to be completely different compared to now.

A voter can be defined as an individual who votes, or has the right to vote, in elections. Voting behaviour is explained using the concepts of expressive voting and strategic voting. A rational voter would act more strategically, that is, the voter would vote to produce an election outcome which is as close as possible to his or her own policy preferences, rather than voting on the basis of party attachment, ideology, or social group membership (expressive voting). Strategic voting has become more important than voting on the basis of political cleavages (expressive voting), so voters have become more rational in their approach, however there is always an element of expressiveness in their behaviour. Political parties were initially formed to represent the interests of particular groups in society however, as these parties became more universal in the appeal of their policy programmes, voting behaviour shifted from expressive to strategic. This essay explores the reasons behind the declining importance of political cleavages, and the rise of strategic voting.

(2013, January 01). From Jean-Marie to Marine Le Pen: Electoral Change on the Far Right. Retrieved February 13, 2017, from https://academic.oup.com/pa/article/66/1/160/1551953/ From-Jean-Marie-to-Marine-Le-Pen-Electoral-Change

The threat of large, influential socialist parties in many European democracies increase their incentive to vote. When the decision has to be made between conservative or socialist control of the government, the “consequences for redistribution of income and the scope of government are far greater than the ordinary American voter can conceive of” (Edwards, Wattenberg, and Lineberry 246).

In the early 1930’s, in Detroit, when the Nation of Islam was initially founded it was not really widely known. It was a very secluded and introverted religion and community. It was not until they came under the leadership of Elijah Muhammad that the Nation of Islam became a household name in the early 1960’s. The Nation of Islam, during the 60’s, was one of the forerunners for African American unity. They strove for a separate black community. They wanted to be completely separated from the white community only because, according to their beliefs, white people were all devils. Elijah Muhammad being influenced by many people and factors in his life led the Nation of Islam to the point where many

In The Economist article done by their European staff titled “Germany’s far-right party will make the Bundestag much noisier” (August 24, 2017), they assert that having members of the AfD join the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, can have drastic effects on how the country and parliament run. In the article, they tell about how the AfD moved away from their old values and towards anti- Islam sentiments, and are known to be quite radical, causing the members of the party to be silenced and dismissed by the rest of the state government

While years of consistent institutional design have allowed for the easy creation of new parties over the years, they have not always been a vehicle for widespread support that is necessary for mass representation. These parties need additional support to rise in popularity; ERPs are gaining this support. As Greven notes, “In the United Kingdom, the UK independence Party (UKIP), founded in 1993, has been consistent in its anti-EU and anti-immigration message and is now profiting from changed public opinion.” The same is true with the National Front party in France, now predicted to win the first round of France’s presidential election.

A truth universally acknowledged in political science is that while politicians are strategic actors, voters are not. Converse’s The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Politics broke the electorate into five groups based on the manner in which they form the belief systems that then serve to inform their vote. From this, he determined that only about 15% of the electorate has a moderate to fully formed ideology which guides their opinions and their votes (Converse 17).

Even today, divisions in groups have been as a result of continued differences among the uniting groups. Humans have a tendency to incline towards the protection of their interest’s aid favors of their perceived groups. Such favourism makes them advocate fully for their interests posing a challenging opposing side to the interests of their unperceived groups. Many nations today are faced with such opposing groups having differing interests and ideals. People advocating for similar ideals tend to create strong ties of

These nationalistic and exclusivity of citizenship elements will be seen throughout Populist rhetoric who are harsh to outsiders and view them as the source of problems in

“President Trump, premier Wilders, it’s time to get used to these words” (Bregman, 2016). With these words Bregman expresses his concerns about the overwhelming success of populist politicians worldwide. Disapproval of establishment, fed by a strong dislike of the nihilistic style of governance relying on economic growth as the cure-for-all-ills, is fuelling populism movements. Non-populistic parties seem to have no answer to the rising cynicism of the people, and populists are using this to push often empty agendas of xenophobia. What can explain this rise of populism, and how can politicians counter the rise of populist parties without

As of 2015, the rise of right-wing populist ideology in E.U. Member states has shown that a rapidly increasing political movement is developing. Increased skepticism of the European Union’s integration of nation-states on a social, economic and political level, along with the recent European Refugee Crisis, has contributed to the momentum right-wing populist parties are gaining across Western Europe.

The Liberal World Order The liberal world order is as much an economic idea, as it is a political one. The liberal world order is very much based on the rule of law. Such things are apparent in a liberal world order such as individual liberties, private property and free trade.

According to Rourke (2008) the most important way people have identified themselves politically for five centuries is through nationalism (p. 102). Nations are formed when people who “share demographic and cultural similarities [who identify themselves] as a group distinct from other groups and want to control themselves politically” (p. 103) band together in a national political identity which has “a soul, a spiritual quality” (Rourke, 2008, p. 103). Feelings of nationalism can be very intense and difficult to put aside because of this. For the concept of globalization to continue to spread and grow nationalistic feelings must be tempered with cosmopolitan ideals.

Michel Crozier argues that despite the many issues surrounding the governability of European democracies (Crozier, 1973, 39), the crisis of democracy in Europe arises on a more basic level from our understanding of “the relationship of institutional values to behavior”- a relationship that has defined European government and societies for centuries (Crozier, 1973, 40). Devoid of rapid economic and technological change, people were able to define goals according to their preferences. Generally, this meant that the “technical knowledge of societies” could provide them with the means to create certain political goals. (Crozier, 1973, 40) Despite this fact, Crozier emphasizes that a since the