The European extreme right in the post-fascist era: The cases of Germany and Italy

This study examines the reasons of the rise of extreme right parties in Europe. It has become apparent success of extreme right parties, especially in the post-1980 period. Extreme right parties have been part of parliaments, become partners with ruling coalitions, and have got the power to influence policy-making processes in many countries. In this study, the rise of extreme right parties is analysed in accordance with the openness of demand conditions, the convenience of the political opportunity structure and the effectiveness of the actor capacity. In the post-war period, the weak voting rates of the extreme right parties with the neo-fascist main framework and their political irrelevance are explained by the limited demand conditions, the inconvenience of the political opportunity structure, and the inadequate actor capacity. The process of change in Europe particularly since the late 1960s has provided a favorable environment for a new wave of extreme right parties. The incidents of 1968, growing mass migration by the end of colonialism and the oil crisis of 1973-79 have been the main drivers of change dynamics. As a result of these developments, the relationship of voters with their parties, the way political systems operation and the structure of the parties have been transformed. In the post-1980 period, the extreme right parties becoming more successful actors are interpreted in relation to the changes in terms of these factors. However, during the time, extreme right parties failed to achieve the same success throughout the continent, and the performances of the parties varied depending on the countries. In order to explain the successes of the extreme right parties in Europe by different countries, we analyze and compare Italy with successful extreme right parties and Germany that did not have a successful one as far as AfD in the post-war period. Analysis of these experiences shows that the heritage of fascism and collective memory policy significantly affect the demand conditions, political opportunity structure, and actor capacity of extreme right parties.