Fighting the System? Populist Radical Right Parties and Party System Change

The problem that is evolving today is that political parties are taking advantage of this populist predisposition to gain more popular activity in elections for their benefit by promising the nation to change a political system and be the saviours of the nation, not enemies, but by gaining power, they ignore their promises and benefit elite groups, while the rest of the nation is once again overlooked. As Angelos Chryssogelos said: “When populists have entered government in the last decade – for example in Hungary, Poland, Greece and Italy – they have rarely implemented foreign policies that diverged significantly from their countries’ previous orientation. In so far as they differ from the foreign policy actions of mainstream parties in their countries, it is primarily in terms of discourse.” And it shows that populists cannot change anything in foreign policies. “Although populists may not pursue substantially different foreign policies, they may present them somewhat differently – in particular, as being against the international system – than centrists who are more adept at using the language of liberal internationalism while promoting national goals.” …