In the mist of a disgruntled working class, one Austrian born man rose to power, playing on their fears of immigrants, unemployment and globalization. By mixing social populism, xenophobia, German nationalism with personal charisma, he was able to make his political party one of the strongest in his nation. Many would believe that this would be a description of the infamous dictator Adolph Hitler. Rather, it is a description of Jorg Haider, recent governor of the Austrian state of Carinthia and former leader of the Austrian Freedom Party.

Austria's freedom party has increased it's power significantly in the last few years. No other party in Austria has more workers among its voters. Also the Austrian Freedom party is the strongest party among male voters. In the Austrian Parliament, the party currently occupies 53 of the 183 seats in the Nationalrat, and 14 of the 64 seats in the Bundesrat (Stas). In Carinthia, the Freedom Party won a majority with 42 percent of the vote, causing the Israel to recall it's ambassador to Austria. The European Union threatened to cut off ties as well (The Economist).

Traditionally, radical right wing parties in Europe have

The far right Centrum Democraten party of the Netherlands lost its three seats in parliament in a general election last may and almost was entirely wiped out in the last local council elections. A smaller group which split off from the Centrum Democraten party was recently banned as a criminal organization (Cava).

Another possible reason that radical right wing parties have become more appealing is because of the current social and economic climate in some parts of Europe. For example some compare the current climate to that of the Weimar Republic, established after imperial Germany was beaten in World War I. The Weimar Republic became notoriously known for the political instability and popular dissent that may have pave the way for Hitler's rise to power. During Weimar, one third of the population voted for radical, right wing parties (Fleck). While this description may not be totally accurate of the current atmosphere, it's parallels with the Weimar republic are none the less interesting.

Another possible reason why the far-right has become increasingly popular is because the injection of new younger voters. While right wing movements declined in the 70's that have now recieved a new lease on life from younger voters. In the past, right wing supporters were older middle class people. Today, the majority of radical right wing supporters are younger, working class men who are affraid of losing their jobs. For the first time there is a far right voter potential among the young now more young people are voting for right wing parties than older people (Fleck).

Ford, Peter. "Right Gaining Grounds in Parts of Europe." CSM.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Weimar Republic, National Front, Jorg Haider, Austria Switzerland, Term Turmoil, People's Party, Democrats German, France Italy, Centrum Democraten, Party Denmark, wing parties, radical wing, freedom party, wing movements, radical wing parties, people's party, swiss people's, fear losing, losing jobs, weimar republic, percent vote, swiss people's party, fear losing jobs, centrum democraten party, wing political parties,
Approximate Word count = 1657
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)