AnastasopoulouThis paper deals with the phenomenon of right-wing extremism and focuses on the examination of systemic and anti-systemic elements in the political discourse of the Greek far-right party Golden Dawn. More specifically, the research question this paper addresses is: under what conditions the political discourse of right-wing parties changes. Although several researchers maintain that the political discourse of right-wing parties remains stable through time, others support the view that the entrance of these parties into Parliament signals a change in their rhetoric, which tends to a movement towards the center. My hypothesis is that the political discourse of right-wing extremist parties changes on becoming actively involved in the political system. To test my hypothesis, I used methodological tools that rely on quantitative content analysis, and, more specifically, on the creation of a codified framework that is based on material extracted from a variety of contexts in which the party’s political discourse is expressed. Focusing on a quantitative analysis of empirical data (statistical analysis), this paper attempts to trace qualitative variation and possible rifts in right-wing radical political discourse.

Αuthor: Maria – Eleni Anastasopoulou

Working Paper 73/2016: «The Political Discourse of Golden Dawn, 2009-2015 Systemicity and Antisystemicity»