· by nohostages.bsky.social ·1d ago · view on bsky.app ↗

The “far right” label and the study of party systems: problems, limitations – and a way out | Italian Political Science Review / Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica | Cambridge Core (cambridge.org)

The “far right” label and the study of party systems: problems, limitations – and a way out

When a caller describes a Reform politician as “far right”, you sometimes get understandably nervous about the legal implications @mrjamesob.bsky.social In contemporary political science, it is an umbrella term covering the radical right and the extreme right. 1/ @lbc.co.uk

#lbc

1 comments — live from bluesky

nohostages.bsky.social · 2 · 1d ago

The extreme right rejects democracy. It includes Nazis and fascists, but is not limited to them. The radical right generally accepts elections, while rejecting important elements of liberal democracy, including pluralism, minority protections and institutional constraints. 2/

nohostages.bsky.social · 3 · 1d ago

So the safer and more useful question is not, “Can you call them far right?” but: Do their stated positions fit the academic definition of the radical right? If they do, describing them as part of the far right is a political classification, not libel or slander. 3/3

Amos · 1 · 1d ago

Honestly, I despair at the paucity of descriptive language in common usage. Everything is framed around a hopelessly inadequate left/right binary that makes false distinctions between different flavours of authoritarian but cannot separate differing levels of commitment to democracy itself.

nohostages.bsky.social · 1 · 1d ago

Yeah. I hate the way that the term "populism" has become a popular way of referring to the radical right.

Amos · 1 · 1d ago

* arbitrary decisions rather than false