Rise of the Right: Is Europe Turning Conservative?

Photo by Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images

***

With crisp suits and beaming smiles, Giorgia Meloni, Viktor Orbàn, and their cohorts look to the European continent with hunger. Europe has seen many political leaders with the same burdened smirk—but this time, there’s more than just one or two. There are over twelve. 

Like many other federations experiencing polarized political parties (namely, our own), the European Union (EU) faces a new age. The rise of right-wing, conservative, anti-immigrant political parties is grasping the continent, led namely by the first female Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, and her contemporary, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán.

European populist parties, as The Hill explains, have grown increasingly popular with younger generations. What used to be perceived as protest votes are now considered honest declarations of widespread discontent. “As these sentiments permeate across the continent, the once-fringe ideologies of the hard right increasingly shape the political discourse,” says The Hill, “posing profound challenges to the established order.”

In addition to converting adolescent voters, center-right parties like the Sweden Democrats, a party with neo-Nazi origins, are taking over parliamentary majorities, according to The New York Times. Though “right-wing Democrat” may sound oxymoronic to Americans, Democratic parties in Europe have far more breadth than the American perception of a liberal Democratic party. The Sweden Democrats and their leader, Jimmie Akesson, are staunchly anti-immigrant, prioritizing environmental regulations and social benefits. 

Political scientist Dani Rodrik theorizes that hyper-globalization is the reason for growing populist parties worldwide: “International economic integration seems to have produced domestic disintegration in many countries, deepening the divide between the winners and losers of exposure to global competition.” Economic integration is the pillar of the European Union’s success in transforming and retaining member countries. The Euro has allowed former Eastern bloc countries to survive and flourish economically. 

Is the Euro the reason for political discord? Political scientists Abdul Noury and Gerard Roland explain, “Economic anxiety among large groups of voters related to the Great Recession and austerity policies triggers a heightened receptivity to the messages of cultural backlash from populist parties.” 

Economic evidence for populism is partially agreed upon, but one thing is for certain: right-wing governments are taking strongholds in countries where conservatism has been repressed for years. The New York Times reports, “President Emmanuel Macron of France on Saturday appointed a new cabinet that marked a strong shift to the right, in a nation so divided that it took more than two months to form a government whose prospects of long-term stability are far from clear.” The latest French cabinet marks a new age in European politics, one where even the most gridlocked political systems across the continent are marking conservative change. 

***

This article was edited by Colin Mitchell and Emma Cunningham.