Abstract
This paper investigates the relationship between electoral support for radical right wing parties and levels of right wing motivated violence. Two competing theoretical arguments are tested against each other—the first states that as radical right wing parties become electorally relevant, fringe ideologies become normalized and violence increases. The second argument states that radical right wing parties represent an opportunity for extremist right wing opinions to be expressed nonviolently, resulting in less violence. These two theories are tested using a fixed effects regression on national level data from 13 Western European countries. The results of the regression show weak support for the former theory, suggesting that radical right wing parties empower radical actors to commit acts of violence.
How to Cite
Thompson, I., (2020) “Empowerment or Abandonment: Do Radical Right Parties Promote Violence?”, Capstone, The UNC Asheville Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship 33(1).
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