Consequences: Interaction and Impact

Abstract

In the final chapter the author addresses the effects of the radical right and makes the point that the East European radical right has lasting effects not only on its nearby competitors but also on the larger political system. The analysis of government participation and policy making in coalition government (as in Poland, Slovakia, Romania, and more recently Latvia and Bulgaria) is complemented by a study of interaction patterns between the radical right and mainstream actors, including the state. The most important effect is not the implementation of a distinct set of radical right policies but rather the radicalization of (parts of) the mainstream (instead of mainstreaming the radical right). This poses severe challenges to the democratic quality of the political systems in question.