Populist radical-right (PRR) parties frequently frame the authoritarian past as a collective golden age (Smith 2009). Furthermore, authoritarian periods are sometimes romanticised in the media too, thus fostering authoritarian nostalgia among the population (Couperus, Tortola, and Rensmann 2023; Kim-Leffingwell 2023). This workshop aims to explore the role of authoritarian nostalgia in the mainstreaming and normalisation of PRR parties from a global comparative perspective. It considers supply and demand-side factors, but adds authoritarian nostalgia, to examine why and under what conditions PRR forces gain electoral significance (Golder 2016).
We know that PRR parties politicise the past to obtain electoral gains in the present (Manucci 2020; 2022), but the role of authoritarian nostalgia in mainstreaming and normalising these parties is still understudied. While the legacies of authoritarianism can stigmatise PRR parties (Mendes and Dennison 2021), we argue that authoritarian nostalgia can also be used for electoral purposes. The nature of the authoritarian past varies across countries, affecting how credibly parties can incorporate authoritarian nostalgia, the general acceptability of such appeals, and the roots of individuals' attitudes toward it. This workshop advances the study of PRR party success by complementing the traditional demand- and supply-side framework with the role of authoritarian nostalgia.
This workshop offers an ideal opportunity to unite specialists from diverse regions (addressing the legacies of both right- and left-wing authoritarian regimes) and to examine a complex, context-dependent relationship from various perspectives. Additionally, the workshop's outcomes are likely to extend beyond academia, given that PRR parties and leaders pose a significant threat to the liberal foundations of democracy: minority rights, media freedom, separation of powers, pluralism, and the rule of law (Betz and Johnson 2004; Rovira Kaltwasser 2012; Mudde 2019). Preference will be given to papers that mirror the diversity of the ECPR research community in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, rank, and regional specialization.
Betz, H.-G., and C. Johnson. 2004. ‘Against the Current – Stemming the Tide: The Nostalgic Ideology of the Contemporary Radical Populist Right’. Journal of Political Ideologies 9 (3): 311–27.
Couperus, S., P.D. Tortola, and L. Rensmann. 2023. ‘Memory Politics of the Far Right in Europe’. European Politics and Society 24 (4): 435–44.
Golder, M. 2016. ‘Far Right Parties in Europe’. Annual Review of Political Science 19: 477–97.
Kim-Leffingwell, S. 2023. ‘Alternative Legacies of Authoritarianism: Pro-Dictator Bias in Ideology’. Party Politics 29 (3): 580–86.
Manucci, L. 2020. Populism and Collective Memory: Comparing Fascist Legacies in Western Europe. New York: Routledge.
———. 2022. ‘Populism and Collective Memory’. In The Palgrave Handbook of Populism, edited by M. Oswald, 451–68. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Mendes, M., and J. Dennison. 2021. ‘Explaining the Emergence of the Radical Right in Spain and Portugal: Salience, Stigma and Supply’. West European Politics 44 (4): 752–75.
Mudde, C. 2019. The Far Right Today. Cambridge: Polity.
Rovira Kaltwasser, C. 2012. ‘The Ambivalence of Populism: Threat and Corrective for Democracy’. Democratization 19 (2): 184–208.
Smith, A. D. 2009. Ethno-Symbolism and Nationalism: A Cultural Approach. Abingdon: Routledge.
1: How do PRR parties refer to the authoritarian past in their discourses?
2: Are there territorial differences in how the authoritarian past is presented by PRR parties?
3: To what extent is authoritarian nostalgia spread among the population?
4: Under which circumstances does authoritarian nostalgia predict voting?
5: How do mainstream parties and media contribute to politicize the authoritarian past?
1: The politicization of the authoritarian past at the institutional and party-system level
2: The coverage of the authoritarian past in the media
3: The construction of authoritarian nostalgia in different countries/regions
4: The prevalence of authoritarianism and authoritarian nostalgia across countries/regions
5: The electoral consequences of authoritarian nostalgia
6: The links between authoritarian nostalgia and other sets of attitudes
7: The evolution of authoritarian nostalgia across generations
8: The theoretical foundations of authoritarian nostalgia at the collective and individual level
