Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Reilly, Jack

Area of Concentration

Political Science

Abstract

The last 10-15 years has seen a rise in Populist Radical Right Parties (PRRPs) support in many “western” democracies. This has led to the obvious question of why these parties have seen such an explosion of support. Answering this question creates several frustrating dilemmas. To start off, each ascendant PRRP is situated in its own national context. Some are independent parties, such as the AFD in Germany, while others are factions that have gained power and influence within pre-existing parties, such as the rise of Donald Trump within the American Republican party. Not every PRRP has the same agenda, policy platform, or public face. However, it would be untrue to say the success of each of these parties is completely independent from the others. It seems impossible that the rise of so many of these political movements at similar times is a complete coincidence. Therefore, we must identify the shared attributes of these PRRPs and how those shared attributes might explain their shared success. This paper shows how situating the modern rise in Populism within its historical context shows us that the factors of ethnic/national identity and disillusionment from power structures are important factors in predicting support for PRRPs. I will use the case of Germany to show how this approach can help fill out a comprehensive answer to the question of the recent success of PRRPs.

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