The Rise of Right-Wing Populism around the World

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Context: Right-wing populism, the leitmotiv of contemporary politics, is on the rise. It has been prominent since the 2010s and in this article, we'll take a look at different aspect ad consequences of right-wing populism. 

Relevance: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests

Introduction:

• Starting in the mid-2010s, democracies all over the world have turned towards the right, electing representatives that stand in stark contrast to those that pushed for globalization and international cooperation two decades earlier.
• Right-wing populism isn’t a monolith. It has different features in different countries. It’s hard, and somewhat simplistic, to ascribe all of the parties, movements, and leaders emerging in this historic shift to a single political trend.
• Yet, they do have some elements in common. The movements and parties that belong to it share xenophobic, nationalistic traits, a tendency toward authoritarianism, aggressive leadership, and an anti-elitist message.
• All over Europe, the past few years have seen a noticeable growth in xenophobia, particularly in reaction to asylum seekers and immigrants. Simultaneously, there’s been a growing rejection of European cooperation, propelling the 2016 vote in favor of Brexit in the UK, and the rise of far-right movements all over the continent.
• In the United States, President Donald Trump-mwhose rise to power was helped by right-wing populist strategist Steve Bannon- has promoted an anti-immigrant agenda. The American president has not shied away from incendiary comments and under his presidency, hate crimes are on the rise.
• Brazil’s recent election of President Jair Bolsonaro demonstrated that far-right populism and authoritarian promises to restore law and order remain a potent and growing force in global politics.

Causes for the Rise of Right-Wing Populism:

• Economic Reasons: 
  • Over the course of history, financial recessions have resulted in increased support for extremist parties.
  • The recession of 2008 was no different as it brought the rise of far-right parties.
  • The recessions led to an increase in unemployment and globalization didn't benefit all the sections of the population equally, creating resentment and anger among those who were not benefitted.
  • Economic insecurity coming from the effects of increased globalization, technological progress, and the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008 all led to high levels of unemployment, which, in turn, resulted in an unhappy population.
• The Migrant Crisis:
  • The Refugee Crisis made national populism a dominant ideology across former communist countries.
  • The anti-migration rhetoric of the right-wing political parties, especially directed against the Muslim migrants gained momentum after the refugee crisis of 2015.
  • Very large sections of the native people believe that immigration had a negative impact on their livelihood and culture and most of them support a complete closure of their borders to immigrants.
  • There was the fear that the migrants might somehow compromise the welfare model of democratic countries and that the Islamic way of life would spread.
  • Many of these anxieties were further fuelled by the recent terrorist attacks on European soil, especially in France, Belgium, and the UK.
  • These attacks reinforced the anti-immigration sentiments and made it possible to link the migration crisis to fears of terrorism.
• A Cultural Backlash:
  • Some of the reasons for the emergence of populists parties in the world stem from an unreasonable fear of demographic changes and the loss of national identity that might be caused by the immigration of foreign nationals.
  • The Natives believe that their cultural, linguistic, religious, and culinary identity would be lost if the number of immigrants is not kept under check.
• Distrust, Destruction, Deprivation, and Dealignment:
  • There are four main causes for the recent rise in support for national populism: distrust, destruction, deprivation, and dealignment.
  • Firstly, distrust refers to the way in which many voters feel like they are not being listened to and that their opinions are not valued when it comes to political debate. 
  • Secondly, destruction alludes to the way that people fear the loss of cultural identity due to immigration and globalization. These fears have been seen in multicultural societies like France and England and also in homogenous societies like Hungary and Poland.
  • The third cause, deprivation, points to the loss of faith in the future and the fear of inequality and deprivation in relation to others. Many voters today are convinced that the past was better than the present and that the future will be worse. 
  • Finally, voter cleavages are not nearly as defined as they were before leading to dealignment. Political systems are currently far more volatile than they have ever been.

All these causes have created the perfect breeding ground for national populism to prosper and they must be looked at together, not separately. National populism is neither a result of the economic crisis nor a cultural shift but the sum of them both

Tools used by the Right-Wing Populist Parties:

The reasons mentioned above create a perfect breeding ground for right-wing populism to develop under the right leader and with the help of effective political communication tools. Some of these tools are:

• The Charismatic Leader:
  • One of the most important features of populism is its reliance on a strong and charismatic leader who presents him or herself as the voice of the people and who is able to reach and mobilize the masses. 
  • Populism requires the most extraordinary individuals to lead the most ordinary people. 
  • Having a strong leader is of particular importance to extremist parties mainly because they are new and not well known and relatively unstable without a leader.
  • Many populists parties are even organized around a strong leader since their charisma alone can bring in voters' support.
  • An extraordinary charismatic leader of a populist party usually gets dubbed “the strongman”. What differentiates the strongman from other charismatic leaders from other political parties, is his (or her) crafted image of a man of action who does not cower in the face of difficult decisions.
  • The strongman also draws upon the sense of urgency and the existence of a “crisis” (whether made up or real), that requires him to lead the people and to make quick decisions.
  • Another characteristic of the strongman is his sense of anti-intellectualism, preferring to stick to common-sense solutions and to separate himself from the intellectual elite.

   

• Populist Rhetoric: Scapegoating and Fear-Mongering:
  • Fear-mongering refers to the deliberate creation of fear in citizens by blowing a particular issue out of proportion. 
  • The use of fear-mongering is especially prevalent amongst populist parties and populist leaders.
  • It plays on one of the most powerful human emotions- fear.
  • In Europe, fear-mongering is often used to talk about the negative effects that immigration and globalization will bring.
  • A scapegoat refers to a person or a group who is vilified and blamed for most of the troubles of a country.
  • Scapegoating usually becomes a particularly popular political tool during and after economic crises.
  • A famous example from our not so distant history includes the Jewish population being blamed for the troubles of Germany in the 1930s.
• The Media:
  • The media is one of the most important tools that any political party can use. Most citizens never meet the politicians and thus rely on the media in order to form an opinion about the politician or political party.
  • This makes the media a crucial tool for politicians to disseminate their message and to build up their image.
  • Media prominence can profoundly influence the politician’s prominence in the public eye.
  • The more salient they are to the public eye, the better they can convince citizens that their standpoints matter.
  • Research has shown over the years that voters’ knowledge of the various politicians is dependent upon the amount of media attention they get. Hence, by making certain characteristics of a political candidate more noticeable, the media can shape a candidate’s image.
  • Populists tend to be more dependent on media coverage because of being relatively unknown in the political sphere. To appear effective and legitimate, right-wing populist party leaders need the media as a platform.
  • Populists receive a lot of media coverage naturally because their provocative speech and viewpoints make for eye-catching headlines.
• Social Media and the Internet:
  • Far-right parties have found their way into new media (blogs, social media, etc) and utilized it to their advantage.
  • Social media, in particular, also provides a direct link with their supporters. 
  • Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter provide both politicians and citizens with a medium for expressing their ideas in the way they see fit, with or without employing political correctness. This interactive way of communicating provides a stark difference from traditional media.
  • The fact that citizens can themselves post opinion pieces and reshare other people’s posts gives more of a personal touch.
  • Moreover, initial research has shown that people are more likely to be influenced by messages and posts from people they trust than from news organizations.
  • The Right-wing populist parties make use of the personal data of users of these social media platforms for profiling the users and use targetted messages to attract them. This was the case with Cambridge Analytica which used user data for political advertising.

Impact of Right-Wing Populism:

• Xenophobia:
  • Xenophobia means the dislike of or prejudices against people from other countries.
  • There has been a resurgence of Racism and Xenophobia with the rise of right-wing populism.
  • The tendencies to deny work visas under the pretext of proving employment opportunities to the citizens is a result of such Xenophobia.
  • The instances of attributing the rise of terrorist activities to Islam and targetting the Muslim minorities with hate speech and violent attacks have been on the rise in recent times.
• Rise of Authoritarianism and the decline of Democratic values: 
• The rise of right-wing populism under aggressive leaders has led to the decline of democratic values like liberty, equality, etc.
• The democratic institutions have been undermined and democratic values ignored.
• The aggressive nature of the right-wing leaders has even affected the independence of the judiciary in some countries.
• The human rights of people are violated with impunity in some of the countries where right-wing populism is prevalent.
• It is entirely possible and even expected that right-wing populists will seek to roll back democratic norms and institutions once in power in order to entrench their authority and quash political opposition.
• Economic Protectionism: 
  • Attributing the huge unemployment and trade deficits to economic globalization, right-wing leaders often choose to impose tariff and non-tariff barriers on imports. Example: Higher tariff rates imposed on steel by Donald Trump.
• Isolationism:
  • It is the foreign policy of right-wing populists who assert that the nations' best interests are best served by keeping the affairs of other countries at a distance.
  • This isolationist policy of the developed western economies led to the increasing domination of the authoritarian governments in many parts of the world.
  • For example, the isolationist tendency of the Trump administration is one of the main reasons for the growing domination of China in the Indo-Pacific region.
• Increasing opposition to collective responses to global threats:
  •  In many cases, the states affected by right-wing populism are more fiercely opposed to collective global responses to shared concerns such as climate change and migration.
  • This is especially the case for far-right, illiberal regimes, which typically thrive on xenophobic paranoia, and a disavowal of any form of global cooperation in favor of a blunt, country-first approach to international affairs.
  • This can be seen in Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate change agreement and the World Health Organization amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
• A threat to global security:
  • This democratic backsliding is a threat to global security. Nondemocracies are more prone to violence and war; more likely to stoke crises and confrontation.

Conclusion:

• Overall, it can be said that there are numerous conditions that provided the grounds for national populism to prosper in Europe.
• Decades of globalization have not benefited everyone equally and many, who felt uneasy with the cultural change globalization entailed, found solace in the familiar feelings of nationalism.
• Certain events such as the Financial crisis and the Migrant Crisis propelled these sentiments further.
• However, these feelings of resentment and feeling left out of political discussion need to be voiced by a charismatic leader. Without having a political party to voice these concerns, national populism would most likely have remained at the fringes of the political landscape.
• The power of social media also allowed for the messages to spread in a rapid and personal way.
• It is clear that the feelings of dissatisfaction and disconnect amongst many people are very real and cannot be ignored by mainstream politicians. A large amount of the population is unhappy with the current system and desperate for a change – something that the far-right parties promise to offer.
• If we are to bridge the gap, then a way needs to be found whereby national populist voters could be included in mainstream political discourse and feel respected and heard once again.