Right Wing Populism Political Parties in Europe Essay

Introduction

The right-wing political allies in Europe denote the parties that stand for the cultural and religious ideas, which were traditional entrenched in the European society. They stand for the ideals such as anti-immigration, nationalism, and reduced taxation. They resurfaced in the 1980s, and have grown with the increasing disillusionment among the voters in Europe as well as the rise of Donald Trump governance in the United States of America. This essay seeks to address the history, critical policies, and beliefs of the Right Wing political parties.

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The Right-Wing Political Parties History

The distinction of the political parties as either 'right' or 'left' began in the 1780s. The terms were used to refer to the sitting arrangements in the parliament (White, 2010). The national assembly members in France had sat to draft a constitution about the powers that the king could have. The anti-royalists sat in the left while the conservative members sat on the right side. The two terms became part of the French vocabulary, and the political parties identified themselves as 'centre-left', 'centre-right', 'extreme right,' and 'extreme left.'In the 1800s, the terms had spread to other parts of the world. Theseexpressions now define the opposing ends of political arrangements.

'Right wing,' as the basis of the right-wing political parties, refers to the ideology that is in support of social inequality or social hierarchy in a society (White, 2010). This is reflected, for instance, in their condemnation of the state's support to the refugees, arguing that they should not be helped the same way the state does not offer help to the country's citizens. The right-wingrelated political parties reject the integration of the foreigners in their societies. The right-wing parties, whether for economic or cultural reasons, try to limit or do away with immigrants in theircountries. Its affiliates are concerned of the country's taxation system as well as the general bureaucratic state.

Key Policies and beliefs of the Right Wing Political Parties

The right-wing political parties are populists in nature. They used populist strategies to promote their policies and ideas to the public (White, 2010). The populist rhetoric is designed to appeal the common citizens' superior common sense that is against the dominant political and cultural consensus. The parties tend to be divisive; in most cases, they side with the poor and the working class to demonize the elite in the society, who are seen as working against their interests. This is evident in the Brexit Vote in the United Kingdom, where the latter sought to separate from the European Union (Sheehy, 2017). The Right Wing politicians advocated for the breakaway from the European Union. The issues they raised included controlled immigration.

Under the European Union, the members are required to allow the refugees, who were fleeing from the animosity in the Middle East and Africa to their countries. The public was fed with the information on how the taxes are channeled to fund the refugees and foreigners at the expense of the country's citizens (Sheehy, 2017). The breakaway faction won; a move that led to the resignation of former Prime Minister, David Cameron. Further, the far right political parties asked the voters to fear the possibility of migrants taking their jobs, thus rendering them jobless.They feared their security being threatened by the Muslims, as well as their culture being disrupted. They worried about the political correctness that might withhold their capability to speak out, the elites amassing wealth, and selling them out to the well-connected individuals.

Their immigration policies are based on sealing the borders to keep the illegal immigrants at bay. The far-right parties opine that the illegal immigrants and refugees will lower the wages in their respective countries. To sustain the wages, there is need to do away with the immigrants and the refugee's influx in Europe. In Germany, the AFP party's rhetoric against the immigrants led to widespread protests and clashes between the refugees and the right wing supporters (Shuster, 2016). For the first time in Western Europe, Austria elected a right-wing president. Austria closed the borders to the refugees and illegal immigrants that had gained access to Europe through the Mediterranean Sea via Greece and Italy.

It is essential to note that the right-wing parties held strong condemnation on social practices in the society. For instance, abortion is strongly opposed,and the stem cell research is loathed upon among the right-wing political parties. The government of Poland, led by a right-wing political party, enacted an act that tightened the abortion laws (Cocotas, 2017). The decision led to prolonged street protests against the new measures. The government was supported by the Church, Law and Justice Party, and the ruling party. The right-wing political factions are also opposed to gay marriages as well as other anti-discriminatory laws, which they believe infringe on the religious beliefs or restrict religious freedom. The democratic space has led to the estrangement of the rights that cater for the LGBT society. However, the right-wing parties are opposed to the gay rights in their respective countries (Gallagher, Laver, & Mair, 2011). The opposition to the gay rights is drawn from the fact that it against the religious doctrines, as well as the traditional and cultural believes of the European society.

Electoral and Political Impacts of Right-Wing Political Parties in Europe

In the European Parliament, the 2014 elections resulted in an increased presence of right-wing members. The far right members had garnered a good number of seats in the European parliament than ever before. This sudden shift among the electorate brought forth sweeping changes that had been neglected for a long time (Sheehy, 2017). For instance, the austerity measures in Greece and the way the EU had treated the Greece situation made most small countries disillusioned. People wanted to have more recognition in the European parliament.

In France, the National Front had made significant gains, although it did not garner the majority stakes. It had 25%, which translated to 24 seats at the EP (Sheehy, 2017). In the same elections, President Hollande's Socialist Party came third, with 14 %. The gains made in France were further confirmed in the improved European parliamentary elections. The enhanced number of National Front representative in the European Parliament prompted President Francois Hollande to summon a cabinet meeting immediately, and proposed further tax cuts in France. The right-wing parties advocated for tax cuts and further taxation reductions (Shuster, 2016). The pressure that the right-wing political parties had put on Francois Hollande's Socialist Party prompted the need to have tax cuts.

In Germany, The Christian Democratic Union of Germany won a majority in the European Parliament elections, but a substantial amount was directed to the right-wing parties. In a reaction to the surprise upsurge of the right wing ideas in the electorate, Chancellor Angel Merkel sought to improve the economy to calm the dissenting voices (Burns, 2018). The European Parliament president, Jose Manuel Barroso, argued that the pro-EU parties still had a commanding majority in the parliament, but there is need engage in a debate. The debate was geared towards the concerns that have been raised by those who voted in protest as well as those who opted not to vote (Burns, 2018).

The United Kingdom Independent Party (UKIP) improved its performance in the European Parliamentary elections in the United Kingdom in 2014. The former Prime Minister David Cameron acknowledged that the electorate disillusioned with the conventional political parties. The right-wing political parties opposed the powers manifested in the European Union. Having right-wing members in large numbers in the European Parliament meant most decisions of the European Union could be drastically affected (Sheehy, 2017). The improved UKIP performance was closely followed by the BREXIT referendum. The referendum was put in place for the citizens of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and England to decide whether they could leave the EU or remain as part of it. The right-wing political parties advocated from a breakaway from the EU. The members who supported the dissolution won the referendum. This breakaway was a great victory for the right-wing political parties (Sheehy, 2017). Consequently, Prime Minister David Cameron was forced to resign as a result of the defeat in the referendum.

The increasing popularity of the right-wing political ideas such as anti-immigration and shutting off the borders to the refugees from the Syrian crisis has affected the national policies in most countries in Europe. Countries such as Romania and Austria have closed their borders to the refugees and illegal immigrants (Bale, 2013). The closer of the boundaries in response to the pressure, brought by the far-right groups, has led to congestion of refugees in Greece and Italy. Italy and Greece border the Mediterranean Sea,and therefore all refugees go to Europe through the shorelines in Italy and Greece (Bale, 2013). The closer on the Northern parts has left the two countries reeling from the influx of the refugees.

The rise of right-wing in the European Union has led to the emergence of nationalism tendencies as advocated by most political parties. The nationalist tendencies have been prompted by factors such as the economic meltdown in 2009. The skyrocketing government bonds brought the economic crisis across Europe in Cyprus, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Ireland, and Spain (Bale, 2013). The right-wing parties in these countries that were mainly affected felt the European Union was not of help to their countries. They felt their sovereignty,and national pride was dented by the economic crises that were brought the European Union bonds. The citizens in most of the European member countries feared the occurrence of salary cuts, unemployment, welfare access, healthcare access, and pensions. The other stable economies like Germany and the United Kingdom felt the other economies that were in turmoil were dragging them behind with the EU bailouts and loan write-offs. The right-wing sentiments gained ground in all these conflicts that had stemmed from the financial crisis (Shuster, 2016).

In the wake of the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom, the right wing affiliate political parties in Netherlands and France have advocated for their plebiscites concerning the EU membership. The countries that have not yet taken in the refugees such as Bulgaria, Slovakia, Estonia, and Poland have been under pressure from the EU (Bale, 2013). In response, the countries have opted to take in Christian refugees,or they take in none at all. The Hungarian government, led by a nationalist president, sought a referendum on the issue of allowing the refugees to the country. The result indicated an explicit rejection of the EU proposal for the EU member countries to take in refugees. Germany had for long looked down upon any nationalistic opinionated political party due to the shame left behind by the Nazis. However, that has changed now, and the Alternative for Germany Party (AFP), a right-wing political party, has gained tractions among a number of the Germans. In Chancellor Angel Merkel's electoral district, the AFP garnered more votes than the Conservative party headed by the chancellor. In the same electioneering period, the Christian Democratic Union got the worst results ever in Berlin for the first time (Burns, 2018). The AFP got parliamentary representation for the first time in Germany. The dominant parties in Germany, the CDU, and the Socialist P...