Radical Right Parties in Eastern Europe

The far right is the most extensively studied political party family in academic literature. Yet for the past thirty years, attention has been almost exclusively focused on Western European radical right parties, which have been associated with post- industrial societal changes and exposure to increasing international competition. Far right parties in the west have thus been regarded to favor the free-market. Meanwhile, their eastern counterparts (wherever they existed) have been brushed aside as parties of the communist past – that is, mere offsprings of former communist elites in search for new constituencies. With the advent of EU integration, however, the eastern radical right deserves a deeper study. Harry Nedelcu explores in his book whether rapid reforms, EU accession and "catching up" have transformed East European societies to such a degree that the supply and demand for the radical right start to resemble the West European scenario, leading to new neo-western far right parties competing with the old far right. Written at the onset of the late-2000s financial crisis, the book suggests a strong link between external factors and party supply and demand.