Articles for tag: French Constitution, French Elections, Illiberalism, Macron, Emmanuel, Marine Le Pen, Rassemblement National, Rechtspopulismus

A High-Stakes Game

So it has happened: Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN) received more than twice the votes of Macron’s Renaissance list in the European elections (31.4% vs. 14.6%). Following the results, Macron announced to dissolve parliament and call an early election. Judging by the immediate reactions on social media, Macron’s announcement shocked several commentators and the public. Yet, from the perspective of the 2027 presidential elections, the reasoning may not be as reckless as it seems. Macron’s calculation is based on the consideration that three more years of the current situation would make a Le Pen presidency highly likely in 2027.

10. Juni 2024

, , , , , ,

Change for the Sake of Change

On 19 November 2023, Argentinian citizens voted in a run-off election between Sergio Massa, the current Minister of Economy, and Javier Milei, the libertarian candidate, to elect the president of the Republic for the next four years. With a difference of 11%, Milei,  an anarcho-libertarian and anti-caste populist, won over the populist alternative of the Peronist apparatus. The result of the elections means that 40 years after the restoration of democracy, the extreme right has come back into power in Argentina. In this blog, we offer an explanation of Milei's electoral win and map how Argentina's constitutional institutions might help reign in some of his more radical proposals.

26. November 2023

, , , , ,

Has Right-Wing Populism Reached Argentina?

Last Sunday, August 13, Argentina held elections to determine the candidates who will run in next October's national presidential elections. In a surprising turn of events, the far-right candidate Javier Milei, an outsider that started in politics around 2019, surged ahead in the preliminary elections, sending shockwaves through Argentina's political landscape which has traditionally favoured left-wing populism. In this blogpost, I argue that disillusionment with political establishment, extremely high inflation and crime are core reasons driving Milei’s surprise success at the ballot box.

18. August 2023

, ,

Rechts nur noch die Wand?

Rechtsaußenparteien haben in den letzten Jahrzehnten flächendeckend in den Parteiensystemen Europas fußgefasst. Zehn Jahre nach ihrer Gründung hat sich mit der Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) auch in der Bundesrepublik eine Partei am rechten Rand des Parteienspektrums etabliert. Die etablierten Parteien in Deutschland suchen seit der Gründung der AfD nach wirksamen Strategien, um den Erfolg der Partei einzudämmen. Noch im November 2021 proklamierte Friedrich Merz mit seiner Kandidatur zum CDU-Parteivorsitz eine Brandmauer zur AfD. Von dieser Brandmauer scheint zu Beginn dieses Jahres nicht mehr viel übrig.

7. Februar 2023

, , , ,

Meloni’s Illiberal Anti-Rave Law

Only ten days after it was sworn in and a week after it received the confidence vote from the Parliament, the new Italian government led by Giorgia Meloni presented its first decree-law containing numerous provisions on a variety of issues: health, justice, and security. The decree-law was the first legislative act presented by the new radical right-wing government. Members of the opposition argued that the decree, in particular the anti-rave norm, is a danger to the freedom of assembly of the Italian citizens and that is a law that Putin could have written.

9. November 2022

, , ,

Waiting for Godot

The words of the President of the European Commission during her keynote speech at Princeton University on 22 September have caused quite a stir. Responding to a question about the (then) upcoming elections and the prospect of a right-wing government comprising members related to Putin, Ursula von der Leyen (VDL) surprised everyone with a reference to the well-known situations in Hungary and Poland. Now that the formation of a new Italian government is well underway, this contribution reconsiders the fears fueled by VDL’s statements in light of the past and current context to draw some more general conclusions on the institution’s duty to respect and promote the EU’s founding values.

13. Oktober 2022

, , ,

Right-Wing Populists and the Global Climate Agenda

&

The rise of right-wing populist leaders, governments and political parties around the world has impacted environmental policy in general and the climate agenda particularly. In this brief commentary, we aim to contribute to an emerging literature that studies the relation between far-right populist rhetoric and actions on climate change policy. The idea is to analyse whether Jair Bolsonaro brings new tactics to the playbook of autocratic leaders, and if so which types. While political dynamics in Hungary, Poland and the USA have all been studied to establish the links between populist politics and climate inaction, there is still room to broaden the view to countries of the Global South.

21. September 2022

, , ,

“Anti-Politics” in the Name of the People

The current Chilean Constitution is politically dead; it does no longer provide legitimacy and integrity to the political system. In the constituent process, the government’s constitutional proposals can be interpreted as being part of what has been called Chilean populist moment, characterised not only by a distrust in expert opinion, a rejection of the elite’s privileges, or a challenge on representative democracy, but an explicit “anti-politics” stance in the name of the people.

14. September 2020

, , ,