1

!"##$%$&$ ()*+,$"-*.

/0+*1)#12 +)3)4,)2 *+ 5)%$)67 89:%"$4$4, )91+);$#1 3*1$4, $4
(+))<)=
|Papei piesenteu in the confeience "uieek Politics in Ciissis. Challenges to the 0pen
Society", LSE (29 Nov. 2u1S),
http:www.lse.ac.ukeuiopeanInstituteieseaichhellenic0bseivatoiyEventsConfei
ences0SEPI%2uConfeience_%2u2u1S.aspx j




>? @)6*+) 1A) BCDB :"+%$";)41"+E )%)<1$*4#F #$,4# *6 <A"4,)7

Fiom the beginning of the 198us until 2uu9, when snap
pailiamentaiy elections weie helu in uieece, at least 1S of the
electoiate placeu itself in the miuule of the Left-Right axis.

G"5%) DF H)61IJ$,A1 K)%6I0%"<);)412 DLLMIBCCL
HNJ
O9$#
DLLM DLLP DLLQ DLLR BCCC BCCB BCCS BCCQ BCCL
DIS 2u.9 21.4 19.6 22.8 22.6 18.7 21.8 19.8 21.S
MIP 4u.4 42.8 S8.1 S1.1 4u.6 4u.S S6.7 S2.4 28.S
QIDC 2S.9 26.8 29.4 24.2 28.2 28.2 S1.6 28.2 2S.S
T*1A$4,
12.8 9.u 12.9 22.2 8.4 12.6 9.9 19.8 16.S
Souice: vPRC, veinaiuakis (2u11).

Thiee yeais latei, uuiing the pailiamentaiy elections of Nay 2u12,
moie than a half of the centiist voteis moveu mainly towaius the
Left; a pait of centie-iight voteis anu voteis without any iueological
self-placement moveu towaius the fai iight.

G"5%) BF H)61IJ,A1 K)%6I0%"<);)41
5)6*+) "4- "61)+ 1A) U"E BCDB )%)<1$*4
@)6*+) O61)+
J$,A1 1S 14
VNJ 1S 17
V)41)+ 1S 16
VNH 2S 24
H)61 19 2u
T*1A$4, 1u 6
TJ 4 S
Souice: Public IssueKathimeiini (2u.S.2u12)

It is woith mentioning that within the fai-iight pole a shaie of foimei
iight-wing populist voteis switcheu to the extieme iight. Actually
2
this was a piocess that hau alieauy begun uuiing the Athens
municipal elections of 2u1u. At that time, the absence of a populist
iauical iight canuiuate in the iace foi the Nayoi of Athens, gave fai
iight voteis the oppoitunity to move to the extieme iight: SS% of the
voteis of LA0S in Athens cast theii vote foi the Secietaiy ueneial of
uoluen Bawn, who ian foi Athens' Nayoi in Novembei 2u1u. In the
Athenian stiongholus of uoluen Bawn (uB) the canuiuacy of the
paity leauei N. Nichaloliakos absoibeu 7u% of LA0S' voteis in
compaiison with the 2uu9 pailiamentaiy elections, when the iight-
wing populist paity of LA0S won 7.6% in Athens (Koustenis 2u11;
Binas, ueoigiauou, Konstantiniuis & Roii 2u1S).


W$,.+) DF XA) (Y 3*1) #A"+) $4 1A) BCDC ;.4$<$:"% )%)<1$*4 "4-
1A) <*++)%"1$*4 5)1Z))4 HO[K "4- (Y 3*1)+#

Souice: Binas & Roii (2u1S), Binas, ueoigiauou, Konstantiniuis & Roii (2u1S)

Signs that the uieek paity system was in a pie-phase of 'tuimoil'
weie alieauy eviuent befoie the 2u12 legislative elections.
Let me give you some examples:
-Aftei 2uu4, a new uichotomy between 'majoi anu minoi' paities
staiteu to emeige, slowly substituting the uominance of the
tiauitional Left-Right axis of political competition (Th.
Chatzipantelis).
0
5
1
0
1
5
G
D
:

V
o
t
e

s
h
a
r
e

i
n

t
h
e

2
0
1
0

M
u
n
i
c
i
p
a
l

E
l
e
c
t
i
o
n
6 7 8 9 10
LAOS: Vote share in the 2009 General Election
S
-Noieovei, an age gap within the electoiate between youngei anu
oluei voteis began to iise aftei 2uu7 with the foimei being
iauicalizeu anu the lattei showing signs of feai uuiing the piotests
anu iiots of Becembei 2uu8 (E. Nikolakopoulos).
-Inuications foi the piesence of a type of 'cynical votei' weie alieauy
visible in the geneial elections of 2uu9: such voteis, who believeu
that it uiun't make any uiffeience to be goveineu by a left-wing oi by
a iight-wing goveinment, showeu an incieasing likelihoou to vote foi
the populist iauical iight (LA0S) (ueoigiauou, Kafe, Nezi 2u12).


>>? GA) %),$#%"1$3) )%)<1$*4# *6 BCDBF "4 )%)<1*+"% )"+1A\."&) $4
1A) ;$-#1 *6 1A) <+$#$#

The uouble elections of 2u12 weie uesciibeu as 'eaithquake
elections' (Nikolakopoulos 2u12).
Accoiuing to Butcheson (2u11: 472), an eaithquake election
'ieleases pent-up foices of change in a single electoial contest,
funuamentally changing the uynamics of paity anu electoial
competition with long-teim consequences'.
In the Nay}une legislative elections of last yeai, the uistiibution of
paity voteis changeu consiueiably anu the uuopoly of New
Bemociacy anu PAS0K with theii alteination of political powei fell
apait. Nikolakopoulos, who fiist useu the teim 'eaithquake elections'
foi the uieek case, founu out that the epicentei of the eaithquake
stoou at the iegion of (West) Attica, wheie the uistiibution of paity
voteis hau changeu uiamatically: the collapse of PAS0K anu the iise
of SYRIZA on the one hanu, anu the shiinking of the vote shaie of
New Bemociacy anu the electoial iise of uoluen Bawn as well as that
of Inuepenuent uieeks on the othei, weie the main aspects of this
change.

G"5%) ]F GA) 8:$<)41)+ *6 8%)<1*+"% 8"+1A\."&)2 U"E BCDB
O11$<" J)#1 *6 1A)
V*.41+E
TY 1S.2 21.4
K^J>_O 21.u 14.9
0OK[` 8.9 1S.1
OT8HH 11.S 1u.S
``8 9.4 8.u
aO 7.9 6.S
Y>UOJ 6.2 6.1
Souice: Nikolakopoulos (Ta Nea. 1S.u6.2u12).

4
Bespite the uiffeiences in voteis' uistiibution within anu outsiue the
seismic epicentei, the eaithquake tiiggeieu uiamatic changes acioss
the countiy. The most impoitant of them was the ie-polaiization of
the uieek paity system. Accoiuing to Binas & Roii (2u12: 271), a
'polaiiseu two-paityism' seems to be back aftei the 2u12 elections.


W$,.+) BF H)61IJ$,A1 0*#$1$*4 "4- 8%)<1*+"% K1+)4,1A *6 0*%$1$<"%
0"+1$)#2 b.4) BCDB


Souice: Binas & Roii (2u1S).

As we can see in Figuie 2, fiom the seven paities that aie now
iepiesenteu in the uieek pailiament, only one (PAS0K) holus a
position in the miuule of the iueological spectium, while all the
otheis aie buncheu up on opposite siues of the miupoint.

The 'limiteu but polaiiseu pluialism' of the uieek paity system in the
197us (Naviogoiuatos 1984) gave place to a 'polaiizeu bipaitism'
(Papauopoulos 1989) anu then to a 'classic two-paityism' (Pappas
2uuS) in the 198us anu 199us. The ietuin of polaiization goes hanu
in hanu with the iise of anti-systemness in the uieek paity system.
The bimoual uistiibution of the votes' shaie neai the two extiemes
(Figuie 2) ieveals the iueological uiffeience oi even the
incompatibility between the paities within the two poles. Anti-
systemness has existeu since 1974, although aftei 1977 the
uisappeaiance of the extieme iight fiom the uieek paity system, as
well as the pailiamentaiization of the Communist Paity limiteu the
oppositional uynamic of the extiemes.
u
S
1u
1S
2u
2S
Su
SS
1,S 1,S S,S 4,8S 8,7 8,8 1u
!!"
4,5%
S#$%&'
26,9%
DIMAR
6,2%
PASOK
12,3%
ND
29,7%
ANEL
7,5%
ChrAv
6,9%
Juin 2012
S
Aftei 2u12, a bilateial anti-systemness became appaient in the uieek
paity system. The successful entiance of uoluen Bawn in pailiament
uespite its opposition to the pailiamentaiy system of goveinment oi
even to uemociacy !"#! %"#&!, on the one hanu, anu the iueological
uistance of the iight-wing extiemists anu the communists fiom the
othei political foices, on the othei hanu, gave to anti-systemness a
ieal content.
I quote Capoccia to uefine anti-systemness as a ielational as well as
an iueological concept. Acccoiuing to him (2uu2: 1u),
'paity anti-systemness is the iueological uistance of one paity
fiom the otheis in iespect to issues of ciucial impoitance foi
the iegime in which these paities opeiate'.
The accession of uieece into the Euiopean Community was fiom the
veiy beginning of the peiiou of '(!)*"+,!(-.,. an issue of ciucial
impoitance foi the S
iu
uieek Republic, which aftei 198u became a
valent one. Paities anu voteis conveige on the position of the uieek
Euiopean integiation. Even the Communist Paity, as Chaialambous
(2u1S) has shown, hau in the late 198us eaily 199us 'a shoit-liveu
pio-E0 tuin'. In the eia of financial ciisis, the Euiopean integiation is
openly challengeu by both uieek paities anu voteis:

Table 4: Range of Anti-systemness, 2u12

(+))<) #A*.%-
+);"$4 $4 1A)
8c
(+))<)d# )9$1
6+*; 1A)
8.+*e*4)
Z*.%- A)%: 1*
"--+)## 1A)
)<*4*;$< <+$#$#
GA) +)1.+4 1* "
(+))& 4"1$*4"%
<.++)4<E Z$%%
<*41+$5.1)
)66)<1$3)%E 1*
1A) )9$1 6+*;
1A) <+$#$#
ffg 1 4 S
K^J>_O S S 2
Y>UOJ S 1 1
0OK[` S 1 1
TY S 1 1
OT8H S 1 2
VA+O3 1 2 S
Souice: vAA (uemenis & Tiiga 2u1S).


Accoiuing to expeits' estimations about the positions on seveial
issues of the cuiiently ielevant political paities in uieece, which
weie useu in the voting auvice application Choose4uieece, the
Communist Paity anu the uoluen Bawn 'completely uisagiee' on the
view that 'uieece shoulu iemain in the Euiopean 0nion', while New
Bemociacy, PAS0K anu BINAR as well as some othei minoi paities
6
(Biasi, BISY, the uieens) 'completely agiee' on such a piospect.
SYRIZA anu ANELL maintain an ambigious piofile, since they neithei
agiee noi uisagiee with the issue this issue.
Within the electoiate theie is a votei's shaie of 11.S%, which
incluueu voteis who agiee with the piospect of uieece being outsiue
the E0, although the vast majoiity of them (almost ) aie against
uieek withuiawal fiom the E0. Among them S9% aie voteis of KKE,
26% of uB, 1S% of ANELL, 12% of SYRIZA, 4% of NB, S% of PAS0K
anu 2% of BINAR.

In the next section I will focus on iight-wing extiemism anu the iise
of uoluen Bawn in the uieek paity system.


>>>? [+,"4$e"1$*4"% :+)+)\.$#$1)# 6*+ 1A) +$#) *6 (*%-)4 Y"Z4 $4
1A) BCDB )%)<1$*4# "4- <".#)# *6 1A) :"+1Ed# "::)"% $4 1A)
)%)<1*+"1)


In the fai-iight liteiatuie theie is a uiffeientiation between uemanu-
siue anu supply-siue explanations (Eatwell 2uuS; Noiiis 2uuS;
Nuuue 2uu7). The foimei, accoiuing to Nuuue (p. 2u2), iefei to a set
of ciicumstances (e.g. piocesses of moueinization, ciises, ethnic
backlash at a macio-level, the iole of family oi school at a meso-level,
authoiitaiian attituues, sentiments of insecuiity at a micio-level),
which is conuucive to the iise of the fai iight. The lattei focus on
political oppoitunity stiuctuies on the one hanu, which examine
institutional factois, the political context anu the meuia that may
potentially affect the iise of the fai iight, as well as on oiganizational
stiuctuies, political stiategies anu patteins of leaueiship, on the
othei hanu, that actois fiom the fai iight scene usually auopt.
Ceitainly, theie is no cleai-cut uistinction between uemanu-siue anu
supply-siue explanations. The oveilapping of explanations ieflects
the coinciuence of factois on both siues that contiibuteu to the iise of
iight-wing populism anu extiemism acioss Euiope.

Public uebates on the causes of the meteoiic iise of uoluen Bawn
(see Figuie S) focus on uemanu-siue explanations. Theie is no uoubt
that the 'cocktail of ciises' uieece is facing (financial ciisis, political
uisenchantment, bieakuown of the social fabiic) has cieateu a feitile
giounu foi the skyiocketing of uoluen Bawn.

7

W$,.+) ]F GA) 8%)<1*+"% J$#) *6 (*%-)4 Y"Z4


Souice: Ninistiy of Inteiioi, http:www.ypes.gienElections

Except fiom the iueology of uoluen Bawn, which is a supply-siue
topic ovei-uiscusseu in public uebates, all in all the supply-siue
explanations have been unueiestimateu. Bowevei, in a ieseaich on
the iise of iight-wing extiemism in the city of Athens, we founu
1
that
inteinal supply-siue factois such as oiganizational patteins anu
activist ieciuitment weie ciucial to the iise of uoluen Bawn,
especially when it attempteu to establish local anu iegional
stiongholus in oiuei to cieate its electoiate anu to establish its
oiganizational bases (see Nuuue 2uu7: 269-7u).

uoluen Bawn must be analyseu -as Taggait (199S: S6) has pioposeu
foi all neo-fascist as well as New Populist Paities- at the same time
fiom an iueological, an oiganizational anu an electoial viewpoint.
These thiee uimensions iueally combine uemanu- anu supply-siue
explanations anu illuminate the coie chaiacteiistics of the iight-wing
populist anu extiemist paities.




1
I am iefeiiing to a ieseaich woik, which was conuucteu by E. Binas, v.
ueoigiauou, Y. Konstantiniuis anu L. Roii. A pait of this woik is alieauy
publisheu in /)&!0 /"+,!,%..
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
8
"h Iueology

uoluen Bawn, -"&1)++0 a 'new' iight-wing extiemist paity, was
establisheu in 198S, on the cusp of the fiist anu the seconu phase of
'Netapolitefsi'. At that time a gioup of Nazi-aumiieis anu foimei
membeis of the neo-fascist splintei paity, August 4
th
, who hau
alieauy publisheu a jouinal calleu 'uoluen Bawn', cieateu a political
oiganization. They calleu it 'People's Association' anu they uesciibeu
it as a 'political movement', when they ueclaieu its cieation to the
Bight Couit (Apcto Byo). An impoitant uetail to mention is that
People's Association, ienameu latei to 'People's Association-uoluen
Bawn', was iegisteieu officially by the Bigh Couit as a political paity
in 198S. Bowevei, theii founueis omitteu to use the teim 'paity' foi
uoluen Bawn until 2S yeais latei, befoie the 2uu9 pailiamentaiy
elections, although it was electoially active in paity contests at a
local, national anu Euiopean level since 1994.

This omission has happeneu not by acciuent: as we can ieau in the
Euitoiial of the fiist issue of the jouinal, 'politics is a veiy uiity thing'
anu theiefoie the euitois suggest at theii public shoulu uistance
themselves 'fiom any foim of political contest'. Aftei a while, the
innei ciicle of uoluen Bawn was uiviueu into two camps: one aiounu
Nichaloliakos that piioiitizeu political activism anu anothei that
focuseu on piomoting the national-socialist iueas. This uoiuian Knot
conceining the uiiection of the oiganization was solveu unexpecteuly
in 198S by the official iegistiation of the People's Association by the
authoiities as a political paity.

Fiom the veiy beginning anti-communism, anti-libeialism, anti-
semitism anu iacism have composeu the iueological piinciples of
uoluen Bawn, which has auopteu a bioau set of iueas anu
oiganizational patteins ('Fhieipiinzip', fiee coips) ielating both to
Fascism anu National Socialism. Fiom the 199us, uoluen Bawn has
maue an effoit 'to avoiu explicit iefeience to National Socialism anu
to piesent itself as a uieek nationalist paity' (Ellinas 2u12: 6), which
is closei to the Netaxas iegime than to non-uieek veisions of
authoiitaiianism. Although it tiieu to covei up its iueological ioots
using an anti-political-establishment ihetoiic, uocuments anu
piactices as well as an openly iacist paity jaigon (see Ellinas 2u12: 7-
8) ieveal the totalitaiian genealogy of uoluen Bawn.


9
5h Builuing stiongholus

Aftei its 1
st
congiess in 199u, uoluen Bawn began to inteifeie in
militant actions like the involvement of the paity's volunteeis in the
massacie of Siebienica (Banfoith 199S). uiauually, uoluen Bawn
shifteu the focus of its militant activities fiom foieign to uomestic
issues paiticipating in the eaily 199us in mass uemonstiations
against the iecognition of FYR0N anu latei in massive attacks against
left-wing anu antifa gioups.

Issues of immigiation anu ciime (anu the coiielations between the
two) soon became cential within uoluen Bawn ciicles. Suppoiting
the mouel of an ethno-cultuially homogeneous state, uoluen Bawn
uefines nationality in teims of 'iace, bloou anu ancestiy'. Accoiuing
to this view, immigiants aie consiueieu to enuangei the iacial
homogeneity of the nation anu shoulu be compelleu to leave the
countiy. uoluen Bawn focuseu on that issue aftei 2uu8, when Athens
expeiienceu a new wave of non-iegisteieu immigiants -at that time,
immigiants iose fiom 19% to 26.S% within the capital- that
geneiateu social conflicts anu stokeu populai feais.

Almost 2 yeais befoie the iun-up to the municipal elections of
Novembei 2u1u, uoluen Bawn ueciueu to concentiate its political
effoits anu oiganizational foices in Athens. The ieason behinu this
uecision can be founu in the paity's stiategy to cieate a .!&"234"+5
within Athens in oiuei to oveicome its weak oiganizational base
acioss the countiy anu, at the same time, to boost its powei at the
local level. uoluen Bawn's militant activities, uooi-to-uooi techniques
anu piactices of a welfaie chauvinism helpeu the paity to gain
influence within the local community by penetiating into giass-ioots
initiatives in the 4
th
anu the 6
th
uistiict of Athens (Binas et al 2u1S).

'viitually all successful populist iight paities have stiong links
to the giass-ioots anu have baseu theii oiganizational
elaboiation anu electoial success on one oi moie local anu
iegional stiongholus',
Nuuue (2uu7: 269) ieminus us with iefeience to some examples
fiom the Euiopean fai-iight spectium (Antweipen foi the vB,
Caiinthia foi the FP0, Piovence-Alpes-Cte-u"Azui foi the FN, etc).

1u
'Two aspects inciease the chance of electoial peisistence anu
even political suivival: a giass-ioots basis anu local
stiongholu' (ibu.).

In the case of uoluen Bawn, both of these pieiequisites weie met.


<h Who voteu foi uoluen Bawn anu why

$h uoluen Bawn's electoial suppoit came piimaiily fiom citizens who
hau voteu foi New Bemociacy, as well as foi minoi paities on the fai-
iight (LA0S). uoluen Bawn also ieceiveu votes fiom PAS0K, fiom
new electois anu fiom people who hau pieviously abstaineu.

G"5%) MF 0"+1E V*;:*#$1$*4 *6 (*%-)4 Y"Z4 !*1)+#
U"E2 BCDB :"+%$";)41"+E
)%)<1$*4#
(*%-)4 Y"Z4 b.4)2 BCDB :"+%$";)41"+E
)%)<1$*4#
New Bemociacy S6.1%
PAS0K 28.6%
LA0S 18.S%
KKE 1.7%
SYRIZA u.S%
0thei paities 6.1 %



4.6% New Bemociacy
2.4% PAS0K
S.9% LA0S
4.6% SYRIZA
8.u% ANELL
66.8% uoluen Bawn
Souice: Exit polls, Nay}une 2u12.

Conceining the paity oiigins of the voteis, the electoiate of uoluen
Bawn ,. 2"! 4"1"3(2("#.: half of its electois come fiom paities on
the iight anu half fiom voteis with uiffeient positions within the
political spectium.


$$h With iegaiu to the social uemogiaphy of uoluen Bawn voteis, the
vast majoiity of them weie young mail auults, with an inteimeuiate
level of euucation, who weie living in piecaiious employment
conuitions.







11
G"5%) PF GA) #*<$"% -);*,+":A$< 1+"$1# *6 1A) )%)<1*+"% i<)$%$4,dF
$4$1$"% 3*1$4, $41)41$*4 "4- #.5#)\.)41 $4<+)"#)- :*##$5$%$1E *6
3*1$4, 6*+ (*%-)4 Y"Z42 U"E BCDB

()4-)+
Nale 9,u
Female 4,S
O,)
18-S4 7,u
SS-44 1S,u
4S-S4 7,u
SS-64 2,S
6S 4,S
8-.<"1$*4
Elementaiy S,S
Seconuaiy School S,u
Bigh School 9,u
0niveisity S,S
Technological Institute 8,S
[<<.:"1$*4
0nemployeu 4,S
Self-employeu 6,S
Public sectoi employee S,u
Piivate sectoi employee 1u,S
Bousewife S,S
Pensionei of public sectoi 6,u
Pensionei of piivate sectoi 4,S
Souice: Public 0pinion Reseaich Centei, 0niveisity of Naceuonia

$$$h Accoiuing to the uata fiom the exit poll (Table 7), two uistinct
types of motives pusheu voteis towaius the extieme iight, which
*)&!+0 oveilappeu with the motives of the entiie electoiate. Within
the lattei, contioveisies iegaiuing the Nemoianuum on the one hanu
anu the type of piefeiieu goveinment on the othei, constitute the
main motives of the entiie electoiate.

Table 7: U*1$3)# *6 (*%-)4 Y"Z4 3*1)+# "4- 1A) )41$+) )%)<1*+"1)

U[G>!8K (*%-)4 Y"Z4 3*1)+# 841$+) )%)<1*+"1)
G* <+)"1) " *4)I:"+1E ,*3)+4;)41
8% S9%
G* <+)"1) " <*"%$1$*4 ,*3)+4;)41
14% SS%
GA) +$#) *6" #1+*4, *::*#$1$*4
S8% 11%
G* :.4$#A ;"$4#1+)"; :"+1$)#
4u% 14%
V*41+*3)+#$)# "5*.1 1A) U);*+"4-.;
71% SS%
V*41+*3)+#$)# "5*.1 1A) 8.+*
47% 29%

Souice: Exit poll, Nay}une 2u12.

12

Within the voteis of uoluen Bawn, contioveisies ovei the
Nemoianuum weie uominant too: the public uebates on austeiity
measuies anu the financial assistance package to uieece motivateu
the of those who voteu foi uoluen Bawn, although the paity itself
was not an anti-Nemoianuum paity. It is woith mentioning that in
the electoial manifesto of uoluen Bawn, not a paiagiaph was uevoteu
to the analysis of this issue. uoluen Bawn became (6 *".! an anti-
Nemoianuum paity, aftei this issue hau aiisen in the political agenua
as being a salient one. 0n the contiaiy, contioveisies conceining the
Euio weie much moie salient foi uoluen Bawn voteis than foi the
entiie electoiate.

A spiiit of piotest was appaient within the ianks of the uoluen Bawn
voteis, who weie in favoi of a stiong opposition anu hau also
expeiienceu feelings of iesentment towaius the mainstieam paities.

'A stiong element of the negative' (Taggait 199S: S7), in othei woius,
feelings anu motives against the Nemoianuum, the establisheu
paities oi any kinu of a goveinmental coalition weie appaient among
the voteis of uoluen Bawn.

What kinu of voteis aie they in iespect of theii pioximity to uoluen
Bawn

$3h In the liteiatuie on the electoiate of the fai iight-wing paities,
theie is a uistinction between 'noimal', 'occasional' anu 'potential'
voteis. This classification of Nayei anu Peiiineau (1992) iefeis to
the voteis of the Fiench National Fiont anu theii political anu
iueological conviction conceining the paity they have systematically
oi inteimittently voteu foi oi the paity they woulu not categoiically
iule out voting foi in the futuie.

Fieschi, Noiiis anu Caballeio (n.u.) piesenteu a similai typology
uiffeientiating among 'committeu', 'ieluctant' anu 'potential' voteis
of the iight-wing populist paities, taking into account the pioximity
between the voteis anu the iueology oi the agenua of the paities they
voteu foi. An impoitant piece of eviuence of this analysis is that the
majoiity of those who have alieauy cast ballots foi the iight-wing
populist paities, uo not belong to the coie suppoiteis of these
paities. Within the Euiopean paity systems, moie than half of the
1S
'ieluctant iauicals' aie unceitain anu unstable in theii electoial
choice.

Table 8: V*;;$11)- "4- .4<*;;$11)- (*%-)4 Y"Z4 3*1)+#
>-)*%*,$<"% :+*9$;$1E 1*
(*%-)4 Y"Z4
0"+%$";)41"+E )%)<1$*4#2
U"E BCDB
0"+%$";)41"+E )%)<1$*4#2
b.4) BCDB
veiy close to 44% 48%
Neithei close to noi fai
away fiom
S7% S7%
Fai away fiom 19% 1S%
Souice: Exit poll, Nay}une 2u12.


With iegaiu to uoluen Bawn voteis anu theii pioximity to the paity
they have voteu foi, almost half of those aumitteu that they aie veiy
close to it, while one-fifth to one-sixth iemaineu iueologically
unaffecteu by uoluen Bawn (Table 8). Those who have voteu foi the
iight-wing extiemist paity without shaiing its iueology constitute a
small pait of the entiie electoiate of uoluen Bawn. The ieason why
the iemaining one thiiu of uoluen Bawn voteis, who have neithei
expiesseu pioximity noi inuiffeience to the iueology of the paity
they voteu foi, iemain iathei enigmatic as to why they have uone so.

I will tiy to sheu light on this categoiy using mateiial of semi-
stiuctuieu inteiviews with uoluen Bawn voteis.
2
Among them we
founu 'committeu iauicals', who shaie the iueology anu the piactices
of uoluen Bawn, as well as piotest voteis, who have voteu foi an
extieme iight-wing paity in oiuei to expiess vehemently theii
political uisenchantment without agieeing with its piactices anu
iueology. Besiues committeu iauical anu piotest voteis, we founu a
thiiu type of uoluen Bawn votei, who although uiun't shaie eithei
the iueological piinciples oi the piactices of this paity, agieeu with
the anti-immigiation agenua of uoluen Bawn. Fuitheimoie, they
consiuei it to be a haiu but necessaiy coiiective ieaction against "the
System". With the woiu of one of oui inteiviewees, a young woman
who is woiking in the piivate sectoi, always complaining about the
high iate of immigiation anu the insecuiity in the job maiket:


2
Semi-stiuctuieu inteiviews, thiough puiposive sampling, conuucteu with key
figuies of the giass-ioots movement as well s with voteis of uoluen uawn,
togethei with Lampiini Roii.

14
'We cleaily took ievenge foi what they (politicians) uiu to us;
we voteu foi uoluen Bawn although we uisagiee with the
violent piactices of the oiganization. If it wasn't violent, it
woulu be exactly what we neeu'.


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