The Radicalization of the Political Right: a Contemporary Analysis of Brazil's Social Liberal Party and Italy's Northern League

Abstract

This article examines the success of far-right political parties in European and Latin American countries, addressing a series of questions related to the explanations behind the popularity of the Social Liberal Party (SLP) in Brazil and the Northern League (NL) in Italy. A comparative analysis was carried out, focusing on the relationship between the discursive positions assumed by the parties and their leaders. The findings suggested that the SLP and LN parties share similar ideological characteristics. Although these parties detach themselves from traditional notions associated with extremism such as fascism and anti-Semitism, like contemporary political parties, they seem to replace these elements with other radical ideas. Based on these results, it is argued that PSL and LN are based on the greater vulnerability of people by pointing to the 'threat of the Other', focusing on certain social, political, and economic challenges (for example, migration, security, social inequality, etc.), which determined their electoral success in the last national elections.