Political extremism in democracies : combating intolerance / William M. Downs.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Downs, William M., 1966-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political parties--Europe.

Political parties.

Toleration.

Radicalism.

Europe.

Radicalism--Europe.

Right-wing extremists--Europe.

Right-wing extremists.

Toleration--Europe.

Physical Description:

xvi, 238 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.

Summary:

"Political Extremism in Democracies: Combating Intolerance is a theoretically inspired, empirically rich study of political parties that have been branded as untouchable pariahs. Democracy's painful paradox seems to require tolerance of the intolerant, but democracy's defenders instead often ostracize and repress illiberal parties even when they enjoy broad electoral support. Drawing evidence from systematic comparison of contemporary pariah parties in seven European countries, the book classifies strategic responses of mainstream political actors and advances a framework for understanding cross-national differences. An inescapable, if normatively controversial, finding is that quarantining or banning extremists is less successful at containing or rolling back perceived threat than some forms of regulated inclusion"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 Pariahs in Their Midst: Organized Extremism and the Problem of Tolerance in Contemporary Democracies 1

2 Ignore, Isolate, Co-Opt, Collaborate, or Ban? Mapping Strategic Responses to Pariah Parties 25

3 Determinants of Democratic Defensiveness 53

4 Is the Cordon Sanitaire Effective? 81

5 The Moderating Effects of Incumbency? 111

6 Responding to Political Extremism without Succumbing to It 147

7 Ban the Bans, but Guard the Threshold? "Lessons" from Old to New Democracies 173.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780230340794

0230340792

OCLC:

757475532