Short Term Trend or Long Term Turmoil? 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 not been seen as serious competitors in European elections. However, recently a new resurgence in the radical right has been spreading across Europe. In some European nations like Austria and Switzerland, these right wing parties have become key players in government. While in other countries like France and Italy, right wing parties are essentially powerless and divided among factions. Whatever the case may be, the popularity of ultra conservatism is growing and becoming more visible throughout Europe.While there are radical right wing political parties in almost every country in Europe, none have achieved more political power than the Freedom Party of Austria, and the Swiss People’s Party of Switzerland. Both ...
