Can populism be suppressed in a democracy? Austria, Germany, and the European Union

East European Politics and Societies

Volumn 15, Issue 1, 2001, Pages 18-32

  Howard, Marc Morjé ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0035630457     PISSN: 08883254     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/088832501766276515     Document Type: Article

References (39)

1. Ruth Berins Collier and David Collier, Shaping the Political Arena: Critical Junctures, the Labor Movement, and Regime Dynamics in Latin America (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1991).
2. See Hans-Georg Betz, "The New Politics of Resentment: Radical Right-Wing Populism in Western Europe," Comparative Politics 25:4 (1993): 413-27. See also Hans-Georg Betz and Stefan Immerfall, The New Politics of the Right: Neo-Populist Parties and Movements in Established Democracies (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998); and Hans-Georg Betz, Radical Right-Wing Populism in Western Europe (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994).
3. See Hans-Georg Betz, "The New Politics of Resentment: Radical Right-Wing Populism in Western Europe," Comparative Politics 25:4 (1993): 413-27. See also Hans-Georg Betz and Stefan Immerfall, The New Politics of the Right: Neo-Populist Parties and Movements in Established Democracies (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998); and Hans-Georg Betz, Radical Right-Wing Populism in Western Europe (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994).
4. See Hans-Georg Betz, "The New Politics of Resentment: Radical Right-Wing Populism in Western Europe," Comparative Politics 25:4 (1993): 413-27. See also Hans-Georg Betz and Stefan Immerfall, The New Politics of the Right: Neo-Populist Parties and Movements in Established Democracies (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998); and Hans-Georg Betz, Radical Right-Wing Populism in Western Europe (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994).
5. Vladimir Tismaneanu, "The Leninist Debris or Waiting for Perón," in East European Politics and Societies, 10:3 (1996): 504-36. See also Vladimir Tismaneanu, Fantasies of Salvation: Democracy, Nationalism, and Myth in Post-Communist Europe (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1998).
6. Vladimir Tismaneanu, "The Leninist Debris or Waiting for Perón," in East European Politics and Societies, 10:3 (1996): 504-36. See also Vladimir Tismaneanu, Fantasies of Salvation: Democracy, Nationalism, and Myth in Post-Communist Europe (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1998).
7. The policy program of Austrian populist Jörg Haider - whom many think represents the prototype of the new telegenic populist - fits neither the left nor the right, as he advocates, for example, increases in social spending for child care, as well as a flat tax. Haider himself is fond of saying, "People always ask if I am to the left or right of my opponents. I am ahead of them," although - quite tellingly - he neglects to mention that the quotation was actually coined by the German Greens in the early 1980s. (Roger Cohen, "A Haider in Their Future," New York Times Magazine, 30 April 2000), 56.
8. See Eurobarometer, "Racism and Xenophobia in Europe," Luxembourg, 18-19 December 1997. The full report is available at 〈http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/dg10/infcom/epo/eb/racism/racism_en. pdf〉.
9. For three recent references, see "Far Right Attacks Increase in Germany in 1999," Agence France Presse, 4 April 2000; Steven Erlanger, "No Room for Gypsies: Across a New Europe, a People Deemed Unfit for Tolerance," New York Times, 2 April 2000; and William Drozdiak, "Haider Plays On Fears of Foreigners," Washington Post, 5 February 2000.
10. . For three recent references, see "Far Right Attacks Increase in Germany in 1999," Agence France Presse, 4 April 2000; Steven Erlanger, "No Room for Gypsies: Across a New Europe, a People Deemed Unfit for Tolerance," New York Times, 2 April 2000; and William Drozdiak, "Haider Plays On Fears of Foreigners," Washington Post, 5 February 2000.
11. . For three recent references, see "Far Right Attacks Increase in Germany in 1999," Agence France Presse, 4 April 2000; Steven Erlanger, "No Room for Gypsies: Across a New Europe, a People Deemed Unfit for Tolerance," New York Times, 2 April 2000; and William Drozdiak, "Haider Plays On Fears of Foreigners," Washington Post, 5 February 2000.
12. Economic uncertainty is not at all the same as economic hardship, particularly since West European citizens have extremely high standards of living. Unemployment, however, or at least the fear of unemployment - and particularly the fear of losing one's job to foreigners - is a crucial element of that economic uncertainty.
13. For a compelling analysis of the causes and consequences of the erosion of this elite consensus, see Richard Rose, "The End of Consensus in Austria and Switzerland," Journal of Democracy 11:2 (2000): 26-40.
14. When I use the label "Germany," I am referring to the Federal Republic of Germany, namely West Germany until 1990, and unified Germany thereafter.
15. This myth was propagated by the Allies, who, in the November 1943 Moscow Declaration, called Austria "the first victim of Nazi aggression."
16. Quoted in Cohen, "A Haider in Their Future," 56.
17. See, for example, Peter H. Merkl, "The German Response to the Challenge of Extremist Parties, 1949-1994," in John Brady, Beverly Crawford, and Sarah Elise Wiliarty, eds., The Postwar Transformation of Germany: Democracy, Prosperity, and Nationhood (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1999).
18. nd ed. (Durham N.C.: Duke University Press, 1997).
19. Interestingly, the fact that the German system outlaws groups or organizations that are seen as "anti-constitutional" has led some commentators to view Germany as less democratic; for example, the Freedom House scale of political rights and civil liberties has consistently ranked West Germany (and now unified Germany) slightly lower than Austria, which received the best possible score. See Freedom House, "Annual Survey of Freedom House Country Scores, 1972-73 to 1998-99," available at 〈http://www.freedomhouse.org/ratings/ratings.pdf〉.
20. See, for example, Kurt Richard Luther and Wolfgang C. Müller, Politics in Austria: Still a Case of Consociationalism? (London: Frank Cass, 1992).
21. As Richard Rose writes, "Party patronage was said to reach down as far as the public lavatories, where the attendant on one side was rot (Socialist) and the other schwarz (a supporter of the People's Party)" (See "The End of Consensus in Austria and Switzerland," 32).
22. For an engaging analysis of this process, see Andrei S. Markovits and Anson Rabinbach, "The Dark Side of Austrian Social Democracy: The Social Democratic Party's Role in the 'Haider Phenomenon,'" Dissent 47:3 (Summer 2000): 15-18.
23. Kreisky's tactic resembles that of the late French president François Mitterrand with the National Front in the 1980s, who restructured the French parliamentary system, instituting proportional representation, in an attempt to divide the French right.
24. Technically, the Freedom Party is actually the strongest party in the governing coalition since it received several hundred more votes than the People's Party (26.91 percent each, and each has 52 seats in the 183 member Parliament). The major posts, however, including chancellor and foreign minister, have been filled by the People's Party in an attempt to assuage the international reaction to the new government. Even though Haider has stepped down as leader of the Freedom Party, and he does not serve in the new government, he is clearly its overarching leader and will remain so in the future. His official withdrawal was merely a strategic and calculated political move to stay somewhat on the "outside." He still calls for the establishment of what he (eerily) calls the "Third Republic," of which he still dreams of becoming chancellor.
25. George Bermann, "Austria: Rushing to Judgment in the European Union" (paper presented at the 12th International Conference of Europeanists, Chicago, 30 March-2 April 2000).
26. For this type of argument, see also Lothar Probst and Winfried Thaa, "Politische Analyse statt moralische Selbstgerechtigkeit: Überlegungen zum Umgang mit Jörg Haider und der FPÖ," Kommune, April 2000.
27. Tony Judt, "The Farce Versions of History," Newsweek International, 14 February 2000.
28. Judt writes, for example, "We are not in 1933; the Freedom Party is not a Nazi movement, and Haider is not Hitler" (See Judt, "Tale from the Vienna Woods," New York Review of Books, 23 March 2000). For an argument in favor of the EU sanctions that stresses the historical importance of the Nazi example, see Dan Diner, "Haider und der Schutzreflex Europas: Österreichs neue Regierung stört den wachsenden europäischen Gemeinsinn," Die Welt, 26 February 2000. For a direct critique of Diner's argument, see Lothar Probst and Winfried Thaa, "Welche Zivilreligion braucht Europa? Die Erinnerung an den Holocaust sollte es nicht sein. Eine Antwort auf Dan Diner," Die Welt, 13 March 2000.
29. Judt writes, for example, "We are not in 1933; the Freedom Party is not a Nazi movement, and Haider is not Hitler" (See Judt, "Tale from the Vienna Woods," New York Review of Books, 23 March 2000). For an argument in favor of the EU sanctions that stresses the historical importance of the Nazi example, see Dan Diner, "Haider und der Schutzreflex Europas: Österreichs neue Regierung stört den wachsenden europäischen Gemeinsinn," Die Welt, 26 February 2000. For a direct critique of Diner's argument, see Lothar Probst and Winfried Thaa, "Welche Zivilreligion braucht Europa? Die Erinnerung an den Holocaust sollte es nicht sein. Eine Antwort auf Dan Diner," Die Welt, 13 March 2000.
30. Judt writes, for example, "We are not in 1933; the Freedom Party is not a Nazi movement, and Haider is not Hitler" (See Judt, "Tale from the Vienna Woods," New York Review of Books, 23 March 2000). For an argument in favor of the EU sanctions that stresses the historical importance of the Nazi example, see Dan Diner, "Haider und der Schutzreflex Europas: Österreichs neue Regierung stört den wachsenden europäischen Gemeinsinn," Die Welt, 26 February 2000. For a direct critique of Diner's argument, see Lothar Probst and Winfried Thaa, "Welche Zivilreligion braucht Europa? Die Erinnerung an den Holocaust sollte es nicht sein. Eine Antwort auf Dan Diner," Die Welt, 13 March 2000.
31. Quoted in Roger Cohen, "A Haider in Their Future."
32. See, for example, Fiona Fleck and Julian Coman, "Swiss Under Fire for Ballot on Citizenship: Swiss Voters Are Being Left to Decide the Fate of Individual Immigrants," Sunday Telegraph, 19 March 2000.
33. Elizabeth Olson, "Swiss Voters Reject Limit on Number of Foreigners," New York Times, 25 September 2000. Incidentally - although the possible reasons for it extend far beyond the scope of this article - it is worth noting that anti-immigrant support is significantly greater in German-speaking areas than in French-or Italian-speaking ones, even though the actual percentage of foreigners is much greater in the French-speaking regions.
34. Andrei S. Markovits, "Danke EU, Bravo Kanzler Schröder und Minister Fischer!" Frankfurter Rundschau, 8 February 2000. For a more detailed version of his argument, see also Andrei S. Markovits, "Austrian Exceptionalism: Haider, The European Union, the Austrian Past and Present" (paper presented at the Minnesota Forum on German Culture, Minneapolis, 3-6 May 2000).
35. Andrei S. Markovits, "Danke EU, Bravo Kanzler Schröder und Minister Fischer!" Frankfurter Rundschau, 8 February 2000. For a more detailed version of his argument, see also Andrei S. Markovits, "Austrian Exceptionalism: Haider, The European Union, the Austrian Past and Present" (paper presented at the Minnesota Forum on German Culture, Minneapolis, 3-6 May 2000).
36. Although the purpose of this article is not to examine the rhetoric and policies of Haider or his party for those who have doubts about the extent of that xenophobia, see Ruth Wodak "'I will Determine Who Is Pure, Respectable and Upstanding!' How Jörg Haider and the FPÖ see Austria's Past, Present and Future" (paper presented at the 12th International Conference of Europeanists, Chicago, 30 March-2 April 2000).
37. One could object that the EU is being selective since it did not respond as harshly against the Berlusconi government in Italy that included the extreme-right National Alliance party of Gianfranco Fini, but the situations are quite different. Not only was the Italian fascist history less anti-Semitic and less murderous than German-Austrian fascism, but Fini's party was only one of several minor members of Berlusconi's multiparty coalition - much unlike Haider's party, which plays a major role in Schüssel's new government.
38. Bermann, "Austria: Rushing to Judgment in the European Union."
39. As Markovits puts it, "The signals are there, and the parameters are clear. Austria is under the magnifying glass" (See Markovits, "Danke EU, Bravo Kanzler Schröder und Minister Fischer!").