The success of far-right parties in parliamentary elections in Sweden and Italy: causes and consequences

Guseletov B.P.

Abstract

The article analyzes the reasons for the notable success of two radical rightwing parties, the Swedish Democrats and the Brothers of Italy, in the parliamentary elections held in these countries in September 2022. Both of these parties are members of the moderate Eurosceptic Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists party, with the head of the Brothers of Italy Giorgia Meloni being its most recent leader. The article also analyzes the short historical path of these parties, which in a relatively short period have managed to go from marginal neo-fascist political organizations located on the periphery of the political landscape of their countries to leading political forces claiming to be part of the government and even to lead it. The profiles of these organizations and their leaders, the results of participation in European and national parliamentary elections are studied, their interaction with other political forces of their countries in the formation of electoral coalitions is considered. The main provisions of their program documents, which reflect the ideological and political foundations of these parties, are given. The attitude of various social strata of civil society towards these political forces is shown. The results of the past elections are presented and their assessments by local experts are given, who not only pointed out the reasons for the successful performance of these parties, but also gave a forecast of their further development. Based on the results of the analysis, it is concluded that the growth of the popularity of right-wing radicals in leading European countries is associated with a decline in the popularity of the traditionally dominant right- and leftwing radical parties, which proved unable to solve the urgent problems of these countries, primarily related to uncontrolled migration.

Keywords

PEL; EFA; ECPM; communism; regionalism; Christian democracy; Eastern Partnership program; political parties; elections; parliament.

DOI: 10.31249/rsm/2023.02.08

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