Right-Wing Populism and the European Parliament’s Agonistic Politics

What is it about?

This article examines first an empirical paradox: how is it that the EP, the only directly elected institution of the EU, has both empowered right-wing populist politicians in the UK and France, and helped challenge the right-wing populist governments of Hungary and Poland? Part of the response lies in institutional rules shaping the EP’s elections and its authority, which this article discusses critically. _x000D_ _x000D_ The paradoxical impact of the EP on European right-wing populism leads to another question: Should the EP privilege the rights of right-wing populist and anti-system actors; or, to the contrary, should it “protect democracy against democracy”? This article draws from political theorist Chantal Mouffe’s agonistic politics to assess comparatively the measures the EP majority has taken to limit the influence of right-wing populists both within the chamber and in EU member states. It critiques the excessive recourse to the cordon sanitaire within, and to the courts without._x000D_ _x000D_

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