A Portuguese exception to right-wing populism

Abstract

Many European countries have witnessed the rise of right-wing (nativist and authoritarian) populist parties over the last few years, which have gained significant votes and sometimes threatened the position of traditional parties. In Portugal, however, right-wing populism has failed to gain electoral support, and the populist discourse is scarcely found in Portuguese politics. In this comment, we offer four tentative hypotheses that explain why right-wing parties with a populist discourse are not present in Portugal: low levels of Eurospecticism, low immigration rates, lack of political space to develop, and lower engagement in communicating that same populism. We conclude that these dynamics create a special balance, and a rather specific political situation in Portugal that does not facilitate the spread of right-wing populism. This balance, we also argue, may be compromised if any of these dynamics suddenly change, potentially paving the way for right-wing populists in Portugal to achieve more political prominence.

Opposition to immigration: How people who identify with far‐right discourses legitimize the social exclusion of immigrants

“…A few participants, however, were quite optimistic regarding the recently created political party. In fact, while the Portuguese far‐right has been considered a failure in gaining electoral support (Quintas da Silva, 2018), since the creation in 2019 of the new far‐right political party Chega (Enough), public support for the far‐right has been increasing, with polls showing Chega as the third political party in the country (Sol, 2021).…”

“…In 2018, for the first time, Lega Nord joined the government and its leader, Matteo Salvini, was appointed Interior Minister, enacting more restrictive immigration policies and voicing anti-immigrant and anti-European positions (Passarelli & Tuorto, 2018). In Portugal, until very recently, the Portuguese far-right was considered to be a complete failure in gaining electoral support (Quintas da Silva, 2018). Indeed, the National Renovator Party (PNR -Partido Nacional Renovador) has existed since 2000 (recently renamed as 'Ergue-te') but has never succeeded in electing deputies.…”

Populismo nos partidos políticos portugueses – Os programas eleitorais de 2019

“…Até às legislativas de 2019, a investigação existente destacava essencialmente dois temas e ideias intimamente interrelacionadas: i) a ausência de populismo em Portugal; ii) a relação entre a crise da zona euro e a ausência (geral) de populismo (Salgado, 2019;Quintas da Silva, 2018;Carreira da Silva & Salgado, 2018;Lisi & Borghetto, 2018;Lisi, Llamazares, & Tsakatika, 2019).…”

“Not wanting to see it is hypocrisy, it's denying what is obvious”: Far‐right discriminatory discourses mobilised as common sense

“…Despite the increased literature on the topic, to the best of our knowledge, social representations configured in the discourse of Ventura have remained unexplored. In addition, despite the impact the performance on online platforms has in the success of far‐right politicians (e.g., Burke, 2018; Da Silva, 2018), there is still a lack of focus on how far‐right leaders mobilise representations as being common sensical to masquerade deeply discriminatory and xenophobic views of the world, particularly on social media. Although there is no unique method to explore social representations, by combining the social representations theory with a discourse analysis approach, this article shows how by drawing on methodological tools from Critical Discursive Analysis, it is possible to analyse the ways in which discursive strategies are used to mitigate potential accusations of extremism when mobilising social representations promoting and sustaining the marginalisation of minoritized groups.…”

“…The far‐right remained marginal in Portugal until very recently and it was unexpected that an FRPP would gain enough support to get a seat in parliament (Da Silva, 2018; Marchi, 2016). This trend changed in October 2019, when the then six‐month‐old party Chega obtained 67,502 votes in the general elections and its leader, André Ventura, was elected member of parliament (Comissão Nacional de Eleições, 2019).…”