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The Political Legitimization of Extreme Far-Right Parties in European Union Member States: A Case Study on Greece’s Golden Dawn A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at George Mason University, and the degree of Master of Arts at the University of Malta by Andrea Mancuso The Catholic University of America, 2013 Bachelor of Arts Director: Monika Wohlfeld, Professor Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies, University of Malta Fall Semester 2014 George Mason University Fairfax, VA University of Malta Valletta, Malta This work is licensed under a creative commons attribution-noderivs 3.0 unported license. ii DEDICATION To Sergio: We’re here. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my ever loving family and friends, as well as my biggest inspiration, my Grandmother, Pockie. A special thanks to Dr. Monika Wohlfeld and Mr. Michael English for their guidance and encouragement during my time at George Mason University and the University of Malta, as well as the members of my review committee for taking the time to evaluate this dissertation. Finally, endless thanks to my fiancé and best friend, Sergio, who assisted me, supported me, made me laugh and eat throughout this entire journey. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................ ix ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER TWO: RESEARCH METHODS ..................................................................... 6 CHAPTER THREE: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................... 12 Section I: Defining Political Legitimacy .......................................................................... 12 Section I.I: Classical Debate on the Normative Concept of Political Legitimacy ........ 15 Section I.II: Modernized Conclusions on Political Legitimacy .................................... 20 Section I.III: The Defining Features of Political Legitimacy for this Dissertation ....... 28 Section II: Commonly Used Terminology ........................................................................ 29 Section II.I: Differentiating Between Patriotism and Nationalism ............................... 30 Section II.II: Terms Concerning Behavior .................................................................... 37 Section II.III: Terms Concerning Ideology ................................................................... 39 Section II.IV: Proper Terminology to be Applied Throughout this Dissertation.......... 45 Section III: Typical Platforms of Extreme-Right Political Parties ................................... 46 Section III.I: Elements of the Extreme-Right Platform ................................................. 47 Section III.II: Voter Attraction to Extreme-Right Platforms ........................................ 59 CHAPTER FOUR: GOLDEN DAWN, A CASE STUDY .............................................. 63 Section I: Historical Background and Contextual Information ........................................ 63 Section I.I: Right-Wing Politics in Greece (post-WWII to Present) ............................. 64 Section I.II: The Development of Golden Dawn .......................................................... 69 Section II: Violent Behavior of Golden Dawn ................................................................. 77 Section II.I: Incidents of Violence ................................................................................ 77 Section II.II: Consequences of Violent Behavior.......................................................... 83 Section III: The Political Legitimization of Golden Dawn’s Violent Platform ................ 86 v Section III.I: Golden Dawn’s Political Platform ........................................................... 86 Section III.II: Electoral Analysis ................................................................................... 93 Section III.III: Possible Implications of Legitimizing Golden Dawn ......................... 103 CHAPTER FIVE: EXTREME-RIGHT PARTIES THROUGHOUT EUROPE, A COMPARATIVE STUDY ......................................................................................... 107 Section I: A Wave of Circumstantial Growth ................................................................. 109 Section I.I: Typology Based on Chronology ............................................................... 110 Section I.II: Typology Based on Influence ................................................................. 130 Section II: Comparing Political Platforms of the Extreme-Right ................................... 137 Section II.I: Platforms Concerning Nation and Race .................................................. 137 Section II.II: Platforms Concerning Immigration ....................................................... 139 Section II.III: Platforms Concerning Economics ........................................................ 142 Section II.IV: Platforms Concerning Governance and Elitism ................................... 143 Section II.V: Platforms Concerning Globalization and State Relations ..................... 145 CHAPTER SIX: THE POLITICAL TREND AND POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS OF EXTREME-RIGHT LEGITIMIZATION ...................................................................... 147 Section I: Identifying Political Trends ............................................................................ 148 Section I.I: Typologies Examined ............................................................................... 148 Section I.II: Strategy of the European Extreme-Right ................................................ 160 Section II: Implications of Legitimizing the European Extreme-Right .......................... 164 Section II.I: Implications for Individuals and Communities ....................................... 166 Section II.II: Implications for Nations and the European Union ................................ 167 Section II.III: Implications for the International Community ..................................... 168 Section III: Implications of Legitimizing Golden Dawn, Revisited ............................... 170 CHAPTER SEVEN: RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS ....................... 174 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 178 BIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................. 188 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Radical Right-Wing Party Success As Protest to New Democracy…………...69 Table 2: Golden Dawn Electoral Record Ending With May/June 2012………………...94 Table 3: Confirming the Entry of Eight New Political Parties (2009—2012)………....100 Table 4: Current Extreme-Right and Eurosceptic Groups in the European Union…….110 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Different Uses and Golden Dawn Symbol…………………………………....73 Figure 2: Hellenic Pottery from the Geometric Era Illustrating Meandros Symbol.........73 Figure 3: Theoretical Graph Illustrating How Support Shifts from Centrist Parties to Polarized Parties………………………………………………………………………….99 Figure 4: Percentage of Citizens who Named “Immigration” an Important Concern in Europe, As Found in Eurobarometer Public Opinion Polling………………………….153 Figure 5: Percentage of Citizens who Named “Economic Situation” an Important Concern in Europe, As Found in Eurobarometer Public Opinion Polling……………...154 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Alleanza Nazionale (Italy) ............................................................................................... AN Alternative for Germany (Germany) ............................................................................. AfD Austrian Freedom Party (Austria) .................................................................................. FPÖ British National Party (United Kingdom) ...................................................................... BNP Danish People’s Party (Denmark) ................................................................................... DF Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy ................................................................ EFDD European Conservatives and Reformists ....................................................................... ECR European Monetary Union ............................................................................................ EMU European People’s Party ................................................................................................. EPP European Union ............................................................................................................... EU Fiamma Tricolore (Italy)............................................................................................ MS-FT Finns (Finland) .................................................................................................................. PS Forza Italia (Italy) .............................................................................................................. FI Front National (France)...................................................................................................
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