Archive of SID Examining the Social Basis of the Far-right Parties in Europe Mohammad Javad Mohammadi1, Seyed Nader Nourbakhsh2* 1. Assistant Professor of European Studies, University of Tehran, Iran (
[email protected]) 2. PhD Student of Political Geography, University of Tehran, Iran (Correponding Author:
[email protected]) (Received: 22 Feb. 2017 Accepted: 7 May. 2017) Abstract Far-right parties have been increasingly spreading throughout Europe since 1980s; they have attracted the attention of many voters, especially the youth and the workers by campaigning against immigration and multiculturalism. Through an anti-establishment approach, these parties have become mainly mistrustful of the mainstream politics articulating themselves as the true voice of the people and the only alternative to the status quo; the far-right parties have been able to distance themselve from traditional fascism and adopt a populist approach and have become a rising forcein many European countries. The current paper aims to explore the status of far-right parties in European countries; it studies both the electoral victory of this movement and its consequences, and compares the condition of these parties across the European countries. Finally, the social status of far-right parties will be examined together with demographic variables of age, gender, social class and education. Keywords: elections, Europe, far-right parties, immigration, neo- fascism. Journal of World Sociopolitical Studies| Vol. 1| No. 1| July 2017| pp. 139-174 Web Page: https://wsps.ut.ac.ir// Email:
[email protected] eISSN: Print ISSN: DOI: www.SID.ir Archive of SID Mohammad Javad Mohammadi and Seyed Nader Nourbakhsh 140 Introduction 2017 uly Considerable victories by far-right parties, especially in countries such as France, indicate that they are no longer marginalized.