Populist, nativist, neofascist? A lexicon of Europe’s far right

They are known, variously, as far right, national-conservative, radical right, anti-Islam, nativist, and Eurosceptic. Also as extreme right, populist, “alt-right”, neofascist, anti-immigration, nationalist, authoritarian, and assorted combinations of the above.

Related: Far-right violence a ‘significant’ threat to German democracy, minister warns

As the dust settles on the results of this month’s European parliamentary elections, it is worth examining what some of the terms routinely used to describe Europe’s wide array of far-right parties mean – and whether they are always the right ones.

For this brief lexicon, the Guardian has adopted the definitions of The PopuList, a groundbreaking project involving more than 100 political scientists from 30-plus countries that classifies Europe’s political parties and their changing ideologies.

Radical right

Based on the work of Cas Mudde, an expert on populism and the far right at the University of Georgia, radical right parties are defined as those that espouse two core ideologies: nativism (seen as the most significant), and authoritarianism.

Nativism is the belief that “states should be inhabited exclusively by members of the ‘native group’, and that ‘non-native elements’ fundamentally threaten the homogeneous nation state”.

That explains the core focus on immigration of radical right parties such as Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) in France, Freedom Party (PVV) in the Netherlands, Vox in Spain or Fidesz in Hungary.

Nativism is a prominent form of exclusionism; radical right parties are typically also exclusionist towards other “outgroups” besides non-natives, including people of different religions (Muslims, for example) or gender and sexual orientation.

Authoritarianism is “the belief in a strictly ordered society” in which infringements are “punished severely”, hence a second key focus of the far right: a hardline approach to law and order, as seen, for example, in Germany’s AfD or Austria’s FPÖ.

Unlike extreme right parties, radical right parties generally operate within the boundaries of the democratic framework: they are not working actively to subvert the democratic system, and they tend not to approve the use of violence.

Extreme right

Extreme right parties share the same two central ideologies of radical right parties, but unlike them, their ultimate objective is to overthrow the existing democratic order, and they have no objection to violence in achieving their ends.

While it participates in elections, the Dutch Forum for Democracy (FvD), which promotes conspiracy theories and the establishment of a “countersociety”, is generally considered extreme right, as too is Greece’s neo-Nazi Golden Dawn.

Far right

Many political scientists, including those involved in The PopuList, use the term “far right” as a catch-all descriptor for parties considered radical or extreme right.

This can be because there is a doubt about which category a party falls into – for example, because some elements within a party may be more extreme than others so its messaging is inconsistent, or because a party’s position has changed or is changing.

“In practice, it’s often difficult to decide,” said Matthijs Rooduijn, a leading member of The PopuList team. “Some party members may make multiple extremist dog-whistles, but in its formal statements it may just be radical.”

Parties that are only moderately far right, or whose positions have moderated over time, may be described as borderline far right.

Populist

Populist parties, again using the definition proposed by Mudde, are defined as those that “endorse the ideas that society is ultimately separated into two homogeneous and antagonistic groups, a ‘pure people’ v a ‘corrupt elite’”.

Populist parties also argue that politics should be “an expression of the will of the people”. Things that stands between “the will of the people” and policymaking they dislike and, in power, may try to weaken: a free press, an independent judiciary.

Many, but not all, far-right parties are obviously also populist. When that is the case, however, said Rooduijn, “it’s always best to say so. Just ‘populist’ can make them seem more moderate than they are.”

(Populism is not, of course, confined to the far right: many leftwing and far left parties are also considered populist, such as the Smer (Direction) party of Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, or France Unbowed (LFI), led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon.)

Hard right

Hard right is a term that has been widely used by media outlets, including the Guardian. Rooduijn advised against it. “I think it’s more confusing than anything else,” he said.

Often, the term is used to describe parties that may have moderated their tone or stances while campaigning for an election, or once they are in government. “Parties do change over time; they can become more, or less, moderate,” Rooduijn said.

“But we avoid changing parties’ classifications when they’re in government. Parties have to compromise if they’re in a coalition with more moderate partners, they have to be less radical. But once they’re out, often you see their identity hasn’t changed.”

Conservative, Eurosceptic, climate-sceptic

To a greater or lesser extent, Europe’s far-right parties – besides their core focus on nativism and other exclusionary ideologies and, in most cases, their populist approach – can share a multitude of other ideological stances.

To differing degrees, many are Eurosceptic, with beliefs ranging from “outright rejection of the entire project of European political and economic integration”, and of one’s country’s membership, to “contingent or qualified opposition”.

Some, particularly in central and eastern Europe, are socially ultra-conservative, promoting the concepts of duty, patriotism and traditional values, family structures, gender roles and sexual relations.

Increasingly, many are also climate-sceptic, either rejecting the science of climate change entirely or resisting and seeking to delay efforts towards the green transition.

Many are also illiberal – capturing the judiciary and media, usurping constitutional bodies, attacking civil society – and “anti-woke”. But just look, said Rooduijn, at that core ideology. Is it nativist, exclusionary of outgroups, authoritarian?

Then you have a far-right party.

So which parties qualify?

By these criteria, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), which finished second (ahead of all three members of the governing coalition) in the European parliamentary elections in Germany, can be classified as far right, populist – and with an extremist element.

RN, which finished first in France with a victory so crushing it prompted Emmanuel Macron to dissolve parliament, is far right and populist, although relatively leftwing – albeit nationalist – in socioeconomic policy.

Despite its relative moderation with regard to collaboration with the EU and to national economic policy, Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, whose roots are widely considered neofascist, qualifies as far right, populist and socially conservative.

The Finns, currently constrained by being in coalition, are far right and populist; the Sweden Democrats, also with extreme-right roots, are now far right and populist; the Danish People’s party is far right – although arguably more moderate than many.

Vox in Spain is far right and populist as well as anti-feminist and economically rightwing. Chega in Portugal is far right and populist, with a strong focus on immigration, Islam, and “political correctness”.

Austria’s FPÖ is far right and populist, as are PVV in the Netherlands (with an emphasis on Islamophobia), Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz in Hungary (with strong anti-LGBTQI+ views) and Poland’s Law & Justice (PiS).

Finally, a number of Europe’s mainstream centre right parties, including France’s Les Républicains (LR), the Netherlands’ VVD and Britain’s Conservatives, have adopted nativist policy platforms, most notably on immigration.

In The PopuList’s 2023 iteration, only the fact that exclusionism was not a core component of their ideologies prevented the academics from classifying them as borderline far right.