Best way to deal with nativists is to give them political power.
France finally has a new prime minister after almost two months of political wrangling after president Macron’s centrist party doing worse than expected and Germany’s regional elections ending with the controversial right wing party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) doing well. The discussions about whether or not it is morally okay and politically viable for mainstream centre right and centre left parties to form governments with nativists have now reached the heart of Europe. Scandinavia, Italy, and the low countries have all had to deal with these issues before and the discussions seem to follow a similar trajectory where there is first outrage and a firm commitment not to include the nativists which allows them to grow stronger as they thrive on distrust of institutions until a point where they are finally included and either have some sort of internal schism or start declining when they are held responsible for their policies not reinstating an imagined golden past in less than one term, and usually mainstream parties adopt their most popular policy proposals.
The point of this post is twofold:
1. To pour cold water over the coming editorials claiming that fascism is coming back in Europe, and
2. To encourage any politician reading this to include the nativists as early as possible so that the process is sped up.
Sverigedemokraterna’s streak of back to back improving vote shares lasted for over a decade before experiencing any setbacks at the ballot box because they were able to preserve their outsider status and because their promises never ran into the harsh realities of governing. That kind of successive successes creates a myth and an aura around the party as natural winners – almost seeming inevitable – which is tremendously hard to compete with. But if you allow them into the warmth, at the centre of political power, you expose them to the beauty of the democratic system. The point of elections is to create a mandate to govern, but it is also to hold parties and politicians accountable for their successes and failures. The AfD have a theory about how Germany could solve all its problems, why not simply let the scientific process run its course? When they fail – which they almost certainly will as most problems are complicated and not simply a result of too much immigration – the democratic process will take over and hold them accountable.
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I've always been interested in politics, economics, and the interplay between. The blog is a place for me to explore different ideas and concepts relating to economics or politics, be that national or international. The goal for the blog is to make you think; to provide new perspectives.
Written by Karl Johansson
Cover photo by Edmond Dantès from Pexels, edited by Karl Johansson
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