The Extreme Right in Europe ex The Far Righ in Europe - JPM852

• Title: The Extreme Right in Europe ex The Far Righ in Europe
• Guaranteed by: Department of Political Science (23-KP)
• Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
• Actual: from 2025 to 2025
• Semester: summer
• E-Credits: 6
• Examination process: summer s.:
• Hours per week, examination: summer s.:2/0, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: unlimited / unknown (20)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment; priority enrollment if the course is part of the study plan
• Guarantor: doc. Dr. habil. MA PhDr. Petra Guasti, Ph.D.
• Teacher(s): doc. Dr. habil. MA PhDr. Petra Guasti, Ph.D.
• Class: Courses for incoming students

Annotation

Over the past decades, the populist radical right has become one of the most studied phenomena in political science. In many countries, populist radical right parties have taken part in national governments and have significantly shaped political agendas and the dynamics of party competition. In this course, we discuss the main theoretical approaches and key findings of international research on the topic. We address central questions such as: What are the defining features of the populist radical right? How does it relate to the broader concept of populism? And how does it differ from the extreme right? The course analyzes the ideology, communication strategies, and organizational characteristics of populist radical right parties, the reasons behind their electoral success, and their direct and indirect impact on liberal democracy and political systems more broadly. Empirically, the course adopts a comparative perspective, focusing on different European cases, while devoting particular attention to the key concepts and methodological tools used to study this phenomenon.

Last update: Guasti Petra, doc. Dr. habil. MA PhDr., Ph.D. (27.01.2026)

Literature

THE POPULIST RADICAL RIGHT AND EXTREME RIGHT IN EUROPE
Prof. Mattia Zulianello, University of Trieste
Syllabus
March 2026

Over the past decades, the populist radical right has become one of the most studied phenomena in political science. In many countries, populist radical right parties have taken part in national governments and have significantly shaped political agendas and the dynamics of party competition. In this course, we discuss the main theoretical approaches and key findings of international research on the topic. We address central questions such as: What are the defining features of the populist radical right? How does it relate to the broader concept of populism? And how does it differ from the extreme right? The course analyzes the ideology, communication strategies, and organizational characteristics of populist radical right parties, the reasons behind their electoral success, and their direct and indirect impact on liberal democracy and political systems more broadly. Empirically, the course adopts a comparative perspective, focusing on different European cases, while devoting particular attention to the key concepts and methodological tools used to study this phenomenon.

Course Schedule and Readings 

1) Introduction and Varieties of Populism Tuesday 24 March 2026 12:30-13:50 C520
Compulsory readings:

• Mudde, C. (2004). The Populist Zeitgeist. Government and Opposition, 39(4), 541-563.
• Zulianello, M. (2025). The PopulisTree: A Systematic Taxonomy and Dataset to Study Populist Parties in Europe. European Union Politics. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14651165251395309.

Recommended readings:
Canovan, M. (1999). Trust the people! Populism and the two faces of democracy. Political studies, 47(1), 2-16.

Gidron, N. and Bonikowski, B. (2013). Varieties of populism: literature review and research agenda. Weatherhead Working Paper Series, No. 13-0004; Weatherhead Working Paper Series, No. 13-0004.

Stanley, B. (2008). The thin ideology of populism. Journal of Political Ideologies, 13(1), 95-110. 

2) The Populist Radical Right vs the Extreme Right Tuesday 24 March 2026 14:00-15:20 C520

Compulsory Reading:

Pirro, A. L. (2023). Far right: The significance of an umbrella concept. Nations and Nationalism, 29(1), 101-112.

- Zulianello, M. & Albertazzi (D.) (unpublished paper). Taking Ideology Seriously -- A Critique of the “Far Right” Label. 

Recommended readings:

Betz, H. G. (2019). Facets of nativism: a heuristic exploration. Patterns of Prejudice, 53(2), 111-135.

- De Lange, S. L. (2007). A New Winning Formula? The Programmatic Appeal of theRadical Right. Party Politics 13(4), 411-435.- Griffin, R. (2022). Ghostbusting Fascism?: The Spectral Aspects of the Era of Fascism and Its Shape-Shifting Relationship to the Radical Right. Fascism, 11(1), 59-86. - Mudde, C (2007). Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, pp. 11-59.

- Wondreys, J., and Zulianello, M. (2024). Choosing who to hate? The Extreme and Radical Right's Foreign Policy between Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and Russophilia. Swiss Political Science Review, 30, 486–499. 

3) Beyond the ideological core: the positions of the populist radical right Wednesday 25 March 2026 11:00-12:20 B330

Compulsory readings:

Rovny, J. (2013). Where do radical right parties stand? Position blurring in multidimensional competition. European Political Science Review, 5(1), 1-26.

- van Kessel, S. (2025). Populism, the far right and EU integration: beyond simple dichotomies. Journal of European Integration, 47(1), 127-133.

Recommended readings:

Abts, K., Dalle Mulle, E., Van Kessel, S., & Michel, E. (2021). The welfare agenda of the populist radical right in Western Europe: Combining welfare chauvinism, producerism and populism. Swiss Political Science Review, 27(1), 21-40.

- Forchtner, B., & Kølvraa, C. (2015). The nature of nationalism: Populist radical right parties on countryside and climate. Nature and Culture, 10(2), 199-224.

- Ivaldi, G., & Mazzoleni, O. (2019). Economic populism and producerism: European right-wing populist parties in a transatlantic perspective. Populism, 2(1), 1-28.

- Lorimer, M. (2021). What do they talk about when they talk about Europe? Euro-ambivalence in far right ideology. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 44(11), 2016-2033.

 4) Organization and leadership Wednesday 25 March 2026 12:30-13:50 B330

Compulsory readings:

Albertazzi, D., van Kessel S., Favero A., Hatakka N., Sijstermans J., Zulianello M. (2025). Populist Radical Right Parties in Action: The Survival of the Mass Party. Oxford: Oxford University Press (pp. 17-32; 131-147).

- Ammassari, S. (2024). Disaffected but efficacious: Why people join populist radical right parties. Government and Opposition, 59(3), 655-674.

Recommended readings:

- Art, D. (2018). Party Organization and the Radical Right. In: Rydgren J (ed), The Oxford Handbook of the Radical Right. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 239–250.

- De Lange, S. L., & Art, D. (2011). Fortuyn versus Wilders: An agency-based approach to radical right party building. West European Politics, 34(6), 1229-1249.

- Heinisch, R., and Mazzoleni, O. (2016). Comparing Populist Organizations. InHeinisch, R., and Mazzoleni, O. (eds), Understanding Populist PartyOrganisation. The Radical Right in Western Europe. London: Palgrave Macmillan, (pp.221-246).

5) Communication and emotions Thursday 26 March 2026 15:30-16:50 B329

Compulsory readings:
- Bonansinga, D. (2025). Visual de-demonisation: A new era of radical right mainstreaming. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 27(2), 603-611.

McDonnell, D., & Ondelli, S. (2025). The distinctive vocabularies of right-wing populists. Government and Opposition, 60(2), 335-357.

Recommended readings:

- Albertazzi, D., & Bonansinga, D. (2024). Beyond anger: the populist radical right on TikTok. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 32(3), 673-689.

Betz, H. G., & Oswald, M. (2021). Emotional mobilization: the affective underpinnings of right-wing populist party support. In The Palgrave handbook of populism (pp. 115-143). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

- Curini, L., Moffitt, B., & Zulianello, M. (2025). The colors of the populist radical right: the strategic use of hue and saturation in party logos. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 30(3), 819-840.

- McDonnell, D., & Ondelli, S. (2022). The language of right-wing populist leaders: Not so simple. Perspectives on Politics, 20(3), 828-841.

- Salmela, M., & Von Scheve, C. (2017). Emotional roots of right-wing political populism. Social Science Information, 56(4), 567-595.

6) Electoral success and failure Thursday 26 March 2026 17:00-18:20 B329

Compulsory readings:

Arzheimer, K. (2018). Explaining Electoral Support for the Radical Right. In Rydgren, Jens (ed), The Oxford Handbook of the Radical Right. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 143-165.

- Mols, F., & Jetten, J. (2020). Understanding support for populist radical right parties: Toward a model that captures both demand-and supply-side factors. Frontiers in Communication, 5, 557561.

Recommended readings:

- Danieli, O., Gidron, N., Kikuchi, S., & Levy, R. E. (2022). Decomposing the rise of the populist radical right. Available at SSRN 4255937.

- De Jonge, L. (2019). The populist radical right and the media in the Benelux: Friend or foe?. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 24(2), 189-209.

- Rydgren, J. (2007). The sociology of the radical right. Annu. Rev. Sociol., 33(1), 241-262.

- Steiner, N. D., Mader, M., & Schoen, H. (2024). Subjective losers of globalization. European Journal of Political Research, 63(1), 326-347.

7) Responses and counterstrategies Friday 27 March 2026 9:30-10:50 C520

Compulsory readings:

Art, D. (2007). Reacting to the radical right: Lessons from Germany and Austria. Party Politics, 13(3), 331-349.

- Krause, W., Cohen, D., & Abou-Chadi, T. (2023). Does accommodation work? Mainstream party strategies and the success of radical right parties. Political Science Research and Methods, 11(1), 172-179.

Recommended readings:

- Abou-Chadi, T., Mitteregger, R., Mudde, C., & Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, F. E. S. (2021). Left behind by the working class? Social democracy’s electoral crisis and the rise of the radical right. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Abteilung Analyse, Planung und Beratung.

- Heinze, A. S., & Lewandowsky, M. (2023). Dealing with Radical Right Parties in Distinct Arenas: Party Responses to the Alternative for Germany in Parliament, Party Competition, and the Media. German Politics and Society, 41(4), 87-106.

Malkopoulou, A., & Moffitt, B. (2023). How not to respond to populism. Comparative European Politics, 21(6), 848-865.

8) Impact Friday 27 March 2026 11:00-12:20 C520

Compulsory readings:

Zulianello, M. (2020). Varieties of populist parties and party systems in Europe: From state-of-the-art to the application of a novel classification scheme to 66 parties in 33 countries. Government and Opposition, 55(2), 327-347.

- Zulianello, M. (2025). 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, 1-8.

Recommended readings:

- Akkerman, T. (2016). Conclusions. In Akkerman, T., De Lange, S. L., & Rooduijn, M. (Eds.). (2016). Radical right-wing populist parties in Western Europe: Into the mainstream?. Routledge,(pp. 268-282)

- Akkerman, T., & De Lange, S. L. (2012). Radical right parties in office: Incumbency records and the electoral cost of governing1. Government and Opposition, 47(4), 574-596.

- Albertazzi, D., & Mueller, S. (2013). Populism and liberal democracy: Populists in government in Austria, Italy, Poland and Switzerland. Government and opposition, 48(3), 343-371

- Kitschelt H. 2018. Party systems and radical right-wing parties. In The Oxford Handbook of the Radical Right, ed. J Rydgren. Oxford, UK: Oxford Univ. Press.

- Mudde, C. (2013). Three decades of populist radical right parties in Western Europe: So what?. European journal of political research, 52(1), 1-19.

Course requirements: 
All compulsory reading for the course is to be completed by every student for the given block of the seminar. The recommended reading aims to encourage students to obtain a more profound understanding of the presented topics. Students are also encouraged to use the library and other resources available at the university. You are welcomed to ask for a recommendation in a specific direction during consultations.

1. Active course participation is the necessary requirement for successful completion ofthe course. Active participation is more than presence and includes active engagement(commenting, discussing with peers, asking meaningful questions).
2. Written assignment: Students are required to write a short paper on the topic of theirchoice selected from the course themes. Length: 6,000 words (including references).
3. This paper is to be submitted per email at the latest by May 15, 2025.

Last update: Guasti Petra, doc. Dr. habil. MA PhDr., Ph.D. (27.01.2026)

Requirements to the exam

Course requirements

All compulsory reading for the course is to be completed by every student for the given block of the seminar. The recommended reading aims to encourage students to obtain a more profound understanding of the presented topics. Students are also encouraged to use the library and other resources available at the university. You are welcomed to ask for a recommendation in a specific direction during consultations.

1.     Active course participation is the necessary requirement for successful completion of
the course. Active participation is more than presence and includes active engagement
(commenting, discussing with peers, asking meaningful questions).

2.     Written assignment: Students are required to write a short paper on the topic of their
choice selected from the course themes. Length: 6,000 words (including references).

3.     This paper is to be submitted per email at the latest by May 15, 2026.

Last update: Guasti Petra, doc. Dr. habil. MA PhDr., Ph.D. (27.01.2026)

Syllabus

read the attachment

Last update: Baranyaiová Gabriela, PhDr. (05.10.2022)