Abstract
This book focuses on extreme-right parties (ERPs), the second most electorally successful, and much less researched, variant of the far-right party family, when compared to the voluminous literature on populist radical right parties (PRRPs). The cases analysed involve three of the most extreme, and ideologically similar (though contextually dissimilar), parties in Europe: the Greek ‘Golden Dawn’ (GD), the ‘Kotleba-People’s Party Our Slovakia’ (LSNS) and the ‘National Democratic Party of Germany’ (NPD). Most of the book centres on GD, while the penultimate chapter tests the generalisability of its analytical framework to the NPD and LSNS. Ellinas takes a rare, systematic look inside the local life of ERPs, where research is extraordinarily scant; identifying and explaining variations in the development of organisational outcomes for dozens of local branches, while analysing the effects of endogenous and environmental (electoral, institutional, societal) factors. Ellinas makes valuable contributions to various literature such as far-right parties, party development/organisation, militant democracies and movement parties.
Those interested in the classification of far-right parties will find the added, and often neglected, dimension of political praxis to the party family approach useful. Studying what parties do, instead of what parties are, helps create a stronger distinction between PRRPs and ERPs. ERPs differ from PRRPs because, bounded by their ideology, they systematically engage in contentious street actions, notably violence.
Ellinas’ innovative methodology is driven by four indicators capturing the development of two dimensions of organisational outcomes for each local branch. Branch longevity measures both the age and continuity (e.g. its capacity to endure even in hostile political environments) of each local branch. Branch activism involves the number of activities, with intensity capturing the number of activities organised every 3 months and consistency capturing ‘the degree of routinisation or regularity of branch operations’ (p. 92). The book excels in its empirical contribution; meticulously analysing colossal amounts of primary data from all three ERPs, producing rich quantitative evidence supplemented by qualitative evidence obtained through dozens of interviews with the party leadership, local party functionaries and various institutional and societal actors. This allows Ellinas to identify thousands of activities over an extended timeframe (both conventional and contentious), organised by local branches before and after critical moments in their development (e.g. electoral breakthroughs); highlighting remarkable variation in longevity and activism. For ERPs often described as ‘movement-parties’ (GD describes the Local Branch as ‘the basic unit of the political battle of the movement’ [p. 81]), Ellinas systematically analyses their movement dimensions and presents original findings.
Endogenous factors had the greatest effect on local organisational developments of ERPs; a key finding of the book. Ellinas theorises that ERPs share two main features that render their organisational development highly unstable. Firstly, they are movement-parties, thus favouring militant activists for contentious actions and offering less electoral openings for moderates opposing such goals. Secondly, they are charismatic parties, with leaders having absolute power, though lacking the necessary institutionalisation needed for distributing incentives and managing internal conflicts. Regarding all three ERPs, those local branches that managed to settle internal infighting between moderates and militants showed the least organisational volatility. However, the militants prevailed. For example, older GD branches, founded prior to the 2012 electoral breakthrough, displayed higher continuity, consistency and intense activism than those founded afterwards, and the same pattern holds for branches with violent activism when compared with those without.
Electoral factors had the least effect on local organisational development for all three ERPs. High electoral results incentivised the ERPs for local expansion in some settings, but overall electoral logic played a minor role. Ellinas assesses the effects of the electoral context on two aspects of local organisational development: the choices of expansion and organisational outcomes. Regarding choices, GD did open up branches in multiple small districts that were non-electoral strongholds of nearby ideological competitors, with low chances of winning a seat and lower electoral results than its national average. These patterns largely hold for the NPD and LSNS. Regarding electoral characteristics, GD branched out into larger districts, with the prospect of winning a parliamentary seat, while offering greater sustained activism than the rest. In settings with incumbency, GD branches displayed higher intense and consistent activism, but no association with longevity was found.
Institutional factors noticeably impacted both activism and, mainly, the longevity of all three ERPs’ branches; an interesting finding for those studying the effects of militant democracy. Regarding GD, after the September 2013 arrests and prosecution of its leadership, they shut down some branches where leading functionaries were arrested. However, the effects were mainly indirect. Concerning longevity, various small branches shut down, thus stalling local expansion. Party activism reduced considerably and experienced a qualitative change, with significantly less emphasis on social activities and contentious actions. Similarly, in responding to motions for a possible ban, both the LSNS and NPD reversed their local expansion. However, the NPD responded through an organisational re-adjustment by increasing both its local activism and contentious actions.
Societal factors affected the course of GD’s and NPD’s activism, but not for LSNS, as anti-fascism in Slovakia is a much newer phenomenon. Regarding GD and NPD, the more intense and consistent the anti-fascist mobilisation was, the more intense and consistent was their activism. The same pattern holds for violent anti-fascist activities and GD’s and NPD’s violent activism, although anti-fascist activities did not affect branch longevity much. However, anti-fascist mobilisation did lead to the closure of various GD and NPD branches, mostly in settings where they enjoyed institutional support.
In conclusion, regarding local organisational development, the three ERPs neither de-radicalised nor radicalised further after facing institutional and societal hostility. Nor did they institutionalise further when the electoral environment was favourable. They emphasised more their party status, though they never abandoned their street tactics. Ellinas attributes this to their ideological roots and experiences of success while remaining radicalised, thus finding it difficult to fully abandon contentious activism. Ellinas concludes that, faced with the possibility of being blocked from institutional politics, they oscillated between conventional and contentious politics for a long time, which might explain their endurance and intermittent organisational stagnation.