Laura Negre Professor Perez

Does Immigration nurture far right parties: A comprehensive study focusing on France, The United Kingdom, Germany and the United

States.

Since the early 1980s, many Western European countries have seen

successful waves of right wing radical political parties. While the United States has

not witnessed the emergence of any such radical right party: here, it is rather within

political organizations and lobbies that immigration policy perceptions are

expressed. Throughout this paper, we assume Art’s premise that an anti-immigrant

platform is a key-defining feature of radical right parties. We aim to explain why in

Western Europe, the topic of immigration gives emergence and strength to far right

political parties, while the United State’s opponents to immigration have not been

seen to consolidate any such party. We further this argument by looking at the

apparent economic threat, the cultural and more recent religious risk, as well as the

different types of electoral systems, in both regions.

The paper looks closely at France, the United Kingdom’s and Germany’s

history of far right parties before tackling the lack of such a party in the United

States. Then looking at the rise of these anti-immigrant parties and how they are

linked to a generous welfare state as well as the cultural threat attributed to Muslim

immigrants. Finally suggesting that the United States has not seen such a trend

because there is a less generous welfare state, a Latin American immigrant

population that is seen as more compatible with the host population as well as a

very different electoral system.

An Economic Threat

The Economic threat of immigrants in Western Europe appears to differ

significantly from the United States. In Europe, the main perceived menace is the

threat that immigrants come to wealthier countries in order to take advantage of the

generous welfare state: the so-called “free-riding1”. In the US, the same feeling also

exists; however immigrants are seen more often as a threat to the native worker

keeping his job. Therefore, while both regions are dealing with the same issue, they

appear to be handling the economic aspect of immigration differently, as they are

characterized by distinctive economic and social systems.

Kurthren states that Germany has in place a corporatist welfare system that

offers its resident aliens access to its welfare scheme, in order to allow better

integration and prevent marginalization.2 While the policy favored immigrant

integration, it eventually gave way to a backlash from the local population who

resented the exploitation of their valued welfare resources. Consequently, the far

right Republikaners- which emerged in the 1980s, used anti-immigration rhetoric in

order to garner support, and blamed the more moderate parties of not doing enough

to limit immigration. In 1980 it won 7.5% of the vote and eleven seats in the West

Berlin parliament.3 By 1989 during the state of Bavaria elections, they won nearly

15% of the vote.4 These numbers were especially surprising for a country like

Germany in a post Nazi era. However, at a national level, Germany’s history might

also be a relevant explanation why far right parties waned during the 1990s.

1 Hjerm, M., and K. Nagayoshi. "The Composition Of The Minority Population As A Threat: Can Real Economic And Cultural Threats Explain Xenophobia?" International Sociology, 2011, 815-43.2 Kurthen, Hermann. "Immigration and the Welfare State in Comparision: Difference in the Incorporation of Immigrant Minorities in Germany and the United States." International Migration Review 31, no. 721-731 (1997)3 Dancygier, Rafaela. "Changes in Immigration Regimes and the Decline in Immigrant-Native Conflict." In Immigration and Conflict in Europe, 257. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010.4 britanica

Today, even though Germany has the most successful economy in Europe since the

2008 recession, and enjoys one of the lowest unemployment rates, concerns

regarding “benefit tourism” remain acute, as shown in the recent case of a Romanian

woman who went to court to try and obtain maximum benefits from the German

social system, and lost. The ruling by the ECJ determined that EU member states

must have the possibility of refusing social benefits to economically inactive EU

citizens who moved to the country to claim welfare5.

Mudde argues that most radical right parties in Western Europe have taken

example from the French National Front. Founded in 1972, the FN led by Jean Marie

Le Pen is an economically protectionist and nativist party. This far right party has

garnered support through an anti-immigration stance condemning the heavy influx

of immigrants coming from less wealthy regions, and taking advantage of France’s

generous welfare system. The party is known to target immigrants as the root cause

of crime and joblessness.

Pierre Ignazi has determined that new extreme right parties rose during the

1980s by outbidding the moderate right and by adopting more extreme positions on

newly prominent issues such as immigration. This can be illustrated in the case of

the FN, who had been around since the early 1970s but only gained ground in the

1984 European election, where it garnered 11.2% of the vote.6 The party then

maintained an average poll estimate of between 10 and 15% of the electorate. It

grew again when Francois Mitterrand, the first Socialist to do so in post-war France ,

5 "EU Migrants Can Be Refused Benefits." The Financial Times, November 11, 20146 Veugelers, J. "Social Cleavage and the Revival of Far Right Parties: The Case of France's National Front." Acta Sociologica, 1997, 31-49.

was elected President. Such growth was seen to culminate in 2002 when Le Pen

received the second highest percentage of the popular vote on the first ballot and

hence advanced to the second round of Presidential elections. However the FN was

to languish thereafter, until the party transition in 2011 and Le Pen’s daughter

Marine was chosen as the new leader.7 Marine Le Pen is seen as more flexible than

her father: She has tried to reconfigure the party in terms of avoiding racist

comments and political gaffes. Yet the FN remains a strong advocate for anti-

immigration, summarized by the slogan “ Stop immigration, reinforce French

identity.” The party under Marine Le Pen obtained 24.86% of the votes in the May

2014 European Elections,8 coming ahead of the two mainstream right and left wing

parties that have successfully governed France since the 5th Republic, achieving the

second-largest electoral victory for a far-right party in post war Europe.

7 Williams, Michelle. "A New Era for French Far Right Politics? Comparing the FN under Two Le Pens." Instituto Ciencias Sociais Da Universidad De Lisboa 46 (2011): 679-958 Accueil." Front National. Accessed October 17, 2011

9

The United Kingdom, unlike France, does not have a history of a longstanding

particular successful far right party. The British National Party (BNP), which

advocated expulsion of immigrants, came into the political arena in the 1980s and

did not garner serious popular support until the 2009 European Elections, where it

9 Resultats Des Elections Europeennes 2014." Ministère De L'Interieur. May 1, 2014. Accessed October 17, 2014.

had a breakthrough with two MEP in the European Parliament. However, this small

feat was short-lived as former support for the BNP shifted to the United Kingdom’s

Independence Party (UKIP).10 Indeed, in the most recent 2014 European elections

the BNP was seen to have dropped from 6.2% of the vote in 2009 to 0% in 2014. A

consensus determined that a lot of people who had given their support to BNP had

voted out of desperation, and now that a more moderate and less racist party gained

importance, their vote would shift to Nigel Farage’s UKIP. The same party was also

seen acquiring female support, who were sympathetic to some extreme right-wing

policies but who had been unwilling to endorse the overtly racist BNP.11 The far

right stance of UKIP holds a combination of three main motivations: “dislike of the

EU, concerns about immigration and a populist reaction against the mainstream

political parties12.” Farage also adds that his supporters don’t only want curbs on

new arrivals form Bulgaria and Romania but also want immigrants who have

already settled to leave.13 Hence political dissatisfaction and xenophobia are

important drivers of support for the party.14

10 "UKIP Attracts Decent BNP Voters," Says Neil Hamilton." BBC News, April 27, 2014.11 Ford, Robert, Matthew J. Goodwin, and David Cutts. "Strategic Eurosceptics and Polite Xenophobes: Support for the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) in the 2009 European Parliament Elections." European Journal of Political Research, 2012, 204-3412 Stacey, Karen. "'Revolt on the Right' Review." Financial Times, March 1, 2014. Accessed October 1, 2014

13 Stacey, Karen. "'Revolt on the Right' Review." Financial Times, March 1, 2014. Accessed October 1, 201414 Ford, Robert, Matthew J. Goodwin, and David Cutts. "Strategic Eurosceptics and Polite Xenophobes: Support for the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) in the 2009 European Parliament Elections." European Journal of Political Research, 2012, 204-34

For over a century elections have been won by either Labour or

Conservatives, with an occasional emergence of LibDems , yet in the most recent

European May 14 elections, UKIP was seen to come ahead of both established

parties with 26.77% of the vote15, the largest ever number for a far-right party in

Europe since the 1930’s.

16

15 Resultats Des Elections Europeennes 2014." Ministère De L'Interieur. May 1, 2014. Accessed October 17, 2014.16 ibid

Hence, the current public perception that immigrants are an economic threat

to the generous welfare state is seen to be extremely apparent in both the cases of

the United Kingdom and France, as far right parties are increasingly gaining ground.

However, Germany in a post Nazi time has not seen such concerns for growing far

right parties, despite similar public opinion and anxieties against abuse of social

benefits.

The United States however, has a different approach to immigration. Unlike

Western Europe, the United States has not seen the emergence of any significant

nativist party17. This is largely due to the fact that immigrant integration in society is

centered around the ideology of individual responsibility to work.18 We take on

Bennett and Kemp’s view that a majority of pro-business Republicans view

immigrants as a “net positive gain economically.19” Furthermore, this notion rests on

the concept of American “equal opportunity” in the labor market as well as limited

government intervention.20 The American enterprise is happy to benefit from low-

wages, low –skilled workers, and therefore has had a far more open stance on

17 Mudde, Cas. "The Relationship between Immigration and Nativism in Europe and North America." Migration Policy Institute, 1-42, 201218 Kurthen, Hermann. "Immigration and the Welfare State in Comparision: Difference in the Incorporation of Immigrant Minorities in Germany and the United States." International Migration Review 31, no. 721-731 (1997)19 Diamond, Sara. "Right-Wing Politics and The Anti-immigration Cause." Social Justice 154-168 (1996).20 Kurthen, Hermann. "Immigration and the Welfare State in Comparision: Difference in the Incorporation of Immigrant Minorities in Germany and the United States." International Migration Review 31, no. 721-731 (1997)

immigration. This is compounded by unemployment ratios, today lower than 6%,

compared to an average of above 10% in the European Union21. That is not to say

that anti-immigrant sentiment does not exist, but it does not interplay with the idea

that immigrants are taking advantage of the welfare state; it is rather a perceived

threat that they might “steal the job “ of the native American worker. This is further

illustrated by Congress’s decision in 1996 to ask Bill Clinton to sign legislation in

order to deny federal welfare benefits to legal as well as illegal immigrants. The

United States counteracts the lack of welfare benefits by giving immigrants fast

access to legal citizenship and naturalization22.

Furthermore in the United States, Republicans, which might be associated with

right-wing parties in Europe, are divided on the topic of immigration. Anti-

immigrant organizations such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform

(FAIR) and the American Immigration Control Foundation (AICF) are often

supported by Republicans, yet pro-business Republicans are also seen forming

coalitions with Democrats seeking more admission of workers23.

The Cultural- Religious Threat

Cultural aspects are stressed as important in accounting for the existence of

prejudice, where immigrants can be viewed as a potential threat to the national

21 Overview of BLS Statistics on Unemployment." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Accessed October 17, 2014.

22 Kurthen, Hermann. "Immigration and the Welfare State in Comparision: Difference in the Incorporation of Immigrant Minorities in Germany and the United States." International Migration Review 31, no. 721-731 (1997)23 Jeong, Gyung-Ho, Gary J Miller, Camilla Schofield, and Itai Sened. "Cracks in the Opposition: Immigration as a Wedge Issue for the Reagan Coalition." American Journal of Political Science 55 (2011): 512.

identity social order, and most importantly to the values cherished by the majority

population. Paxton and Mughan point out that the key concept of the cultural threat

is linked to assimilation, where data shows that the host population feels culturally

threatened by the lack of integration of an immigrant population. Furthermore,

whether assimilation is successful or unsuccessful can often be connected to the

composition of the immigrant group. One can argue that the Hispanic population in

the United States is better assimilated than the Muslim population in Europe. This is

to say that if immigrants are culturally similar to the host society they are

considered as less of a threat24.

We take on Mudde’s view that in Western Europe immigration is a threat to

the cultural homogeneity, and that this is less apparent in North America because of

the historical fabric of its population.25 Furthermore, Western Europe has had more

difficulty in integrating and assimilating immigrants; popular attitudes show that

“one third of Europeans consider themselves quite racist and one in five believe that

all non-EU immigrants should be sent back to their country of origin.26” Hence we

can assume that a large portion of the immigration population in Europe is

perceived as a cultural threat and therefore triggers xenophobia, which ultimately

garners support for anti-immigrant far right parties. Moreover there is a sense that

24 Hjerm, M., and K. Nagayoshi. "The Composition Of The Minority Population As A Threat: Can Real Economic And Cultural Threats Explain Xenophobia?" International Sociology, 2011, 815-43.25 Mudde, Cas. "The Relationship between Immigration and Nativism in Europe and North America." Migration Policy Institute, 201226 Williams, Michelle Hale. "Art: Inside the Radical Right: The Development of Anti-Immigrant Parties in Western Europe. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Pp. Xvi, 272.) Zaslove: The Re-Invention of the European Radical Right: Populism, Regionalism, and the Italian Lega Nord. (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2011. Pp. Viii, 288.)." The Review of Politics: 14.

the Spanish language is better accepted in the United States, compared to the

various languages linked to the Muslim minority in Europe. Snidernman and

Handgendorm mention that in Holland, a poll indicated that immigrants seen

speaking their native languages causes a strong sense of discomfort for the host

population27.

Along with this cultural threat, a new religious threat has taken effect since

9/11, where the migrant is no longer seen as Turkish or North African but rather

branded as a Muslim. Although Muslims have been seen migrating to Western

Europe since the 1960’s, their young population have been growing at a much faster

rate than the non-Muslim population, which has been perceived as a cause for

concern in various Western European countries. In Austria and Switzerland, the

Muslim population quadrupled between 1980 and 2000 and both countries have

seen the success of radical right parties in the most recent elections. This new type

of religious xenophobia, named Islamophobia, is rooted in the notion that Islam and

democracy are not compatible, as radical right leaders downplay the possibility of

moderate Islam28.

Post September 11, Germany, according to a BFV report, saw a steady growth

of the Neo-Nazi National Democratic Party, particularly in two of Germany’s federal

state, Saxony and Bradenburg where it managed to gain regional parliamentary

representation through elections in 2004 29. Again this is surprising for Germany in 27 Hjerm, M., and K. Nagayoshi. "The Composition Of The Minority Population As A Threat: Can Real Economic And Cultural Threats Explain Xenophobia?" International Sociology, 2011, 815-43.28 Mudde, Cas. "The Relationship between Immigration and Nativism in Europe and North America." Migration Policy Institute, 201229 Gingrich, Andre. "Anthropological Analyses of Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism in Europe." American Ethnologist, 2005, 513-15.

view of its Nazi past. A more recent study shows that Muslim men living in Germany

are perceived as taking advantage of the system by bringing multiple women from

the Muslim world and marrying them in front of an Imam. Although polygamy is

illegal in Germany, government organizations have been reluctant to take action.

Moreover the majority of Germans view Islam as “foreign, different and

threatening,” and 51% of Germans believe that Islam poses a threat to their way of

life. More importantly, bad integration for the Muslim immigrants show that only

24% of them are involved in civil society activities outside of work and family.30

In reaction to September 11, France saw a reinvigoration in its radical right

party, the Front National., namely because of its anti-immigration stance, which

allowed Le Pen’s islamophobic discourse to receive renewed support31. A recent

article in French newspaper Le Point showed that 99% of the FN supporters are

essentially islamophobic.32 Furthermore, when looking at Muslim North Africans

integration in France, we notice that there is considerable discrimination in terms of

integration. Statistics show that a Muslim candidate applying for a job is 2.5 times

less likely to receive a job interview call back in comparison with his or her

Christian counterpart. Also, applicants from a Maghrebi background were found to

be strongly discriminated against in the French labor market, compared with those

from an “authentic” French background. Ultimately studies show that Muslims have

30 Kern, Soeren. ""Different and Threatening" Most Germans See Islam as a Threat." Www.gatestoneinstitute.org. May 1, 201331 Levy, Carl. "The European Union after 9/11: The Demise of a Liberal Democratic Asylum Regime?" Government and Opposition, 2005, 26-59.32 Bon, Gerard. ""Une Journaliste Infiltree Denonce L'islamophobie Du FN"" Le Point, February 22, 2012.

faced barriers to economic integration in France that are higher than they would

have been if everything about them were the same, save for their religion33.

Opinion polls in the United Kingdom have showed that voters view Islam and

the question of Muslim immigration as a top public concern.34 Indeed, demographics

show that the number of people under twenty-five who describe themselves as

Muslim has doubled over the past ten year in Britain35. Hence, United Kingdom’s

Independence Party has most recently used anti-muslim rhetoric and put a

particularly strong emphasis on its opposition to Islam. In 2009, the party leader at

the time, Lord Pearson, invited the right-wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders to

present his anti-islamic film Fitna in the House of Lords. UKIP was also seen

following France’s lead in asking for a burqa-ban. This was especially surprising for

the United Kingdom as they have a policy of full religious freedom, whereas secular

France legislates against public religious display. UKIP also asked for radical

Islamist preachers to be deported.36 Most Recently, a UKIP candidate was seen

openly stating that “ Islam was a totalitarian ideology” and “against everything that

Britain stands for37.”

33 Adida, C. L., D. D. Laitin, and M.-A. Valfort. "Inaugural Article: Identifying Barriers to Muslim Integration in France." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2010, 22384-2390.34 Kern, Soeren. "The Islamization of Britain in 2013." Www.gatestoneinstitute.org. December 30, 2013.35 ibid36 Ford, Robert, Matthew J. Goodwin, and David Cutts. "Strategic Eurosceptics and Polite Xenophobes: Support for the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) in the 2009 European Parliament Elections." European Journal of Political Research, 2012, 204-3437 WIntour, Patrick. ""UKIP Embroiled in New Row over Islamophobia"" The Guardian, May 1, 2014.

Hence, far right parties in Western Europe are seen taking advantage of the

perception that there is a serious cleavage between liberal Christian values and

Islamic beliefs.38

In the United States, the Muslim minority only accounts for 2.75 million39 out

of 316 million of the total population. In contrast with Europe where Muslims

represent 5% of the EU 27, and where this number is expected to rise to 20% by the

end of 205040. Mudde explains that the Islam cultural-religious threat plays a less

dominant role among US nativists: paleoconservatives and neoconservatives regard

it as a predominant European and Israeli concern. Nativist and right wing

organizations in the United States are more worried about the “Mexican threat,” and

have even gone so far to argue that “Mexico will slowly but steadily take back the

South West41“; however these fears are far removed from the United States’s

political mainstream. Furthermore, it is important to underline that the large Latino

migrant population has a strong Christian, albeit mostly Catholic, tradition which is

far more compatible than Islam in Europe42. The notion that both the migrant

population and the host population attend similar religious ceremonies advocates

for better integration43. Moreover, data shows that in contrast with Muslim

38 Ford, Robert, Matthew J. Goodwin, and David Cutts. "Strategic Eurosceptics and Polite Xenophobes: Support for the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) in the 39 "Muslim-American Demographics Reveal A Diverse Group That Rejects Categorization."The Huffington Post, 2014.40 Gosh, Palash. "Muslim Population Rising in Western Europe." International Business Times, April 1, 2011.41 Mudde, Cas. "The Relationship between Immigration and Nativism in Europe and North America." Migration Policy Institute, 201242 ibid43 Diamond, Sara. "Right-Wing Politics and The Anti-immigration Cause." Social Justice 154-168 (1996).

immigrants in Europe, Hispanic immigrants in the US show a better record of coping

with the language barrier, allowing for a strong record of upward mobility44.Hence

the argument goes that the Hispanic population in the United States is better

assimilated than the Muslim population in Europe. This is not to say that Hispanics

have not had difficulties integrating, studies show that they have had a much harder

time than former Europeans, but they are still comparatively better assimilated than

Muslims in Western Europe. Indeed, Hispanic men are seen to be gradually closing

the economic gaps with native whites, which shows generational progress in

incomes, converging toward the white men with whom they are competing.45Also

worthy of note, racial prejudice in the US , despite all the progress made , remains

stronger within Black-White than Hispanic-White relations.

Different Political Systems

An important aspect, influencing the emergence of far right anti-immigrant

parties, is the political systems in respective countries. We will argue that the

electoral system in Western Europe works in a way that enables far right parties to

consolidate, while in the United States expensive campaigning, and divisions within

both established parties on the issue of immigration, doesn’t allow for development

of a new far right party.

44 Kaba, Amadu. "Culture, Economic Progress and Immigration: The Hispanic/Latino Population in the US and the North African/Muslim Population in European Countries."Delaware Review of Latin American Studies, 2008.45 Smith, James P. "Assimilation Across The Latino Generations." American Economic Review, 2003, 315-19.

In France the two round system allows for citizens to vote for their

preference in the first round of the presidential election. Since the votes are counted

nation wide rather than on a constituency basis, this gives a right wing party the

chance of success in the first round. This was exemplified in 2002 when, for the first

time in history, far right FN candidate Le Pen faced Chirac for a second round of

elections. Therefore, socialists were compelled to vote for Chirac’s moderate right

party in order to avoid Le Pen becoming President.

In the United Kingdom, British voters consider second order elections less

consequential, and take the opportunity to express ideological affinity with smaller

and more extreme minor parties.46 In national elections, however, the British “first

past the post “ system doesn’t favor minor parties, who have been unsuccessfully

campaigning for a regional list proportional representation system. UKIP has a

geographically concentrated base of support and hence suffers from the current

system. However, today, the immigration issue linked to anti-European sentiment

has become so important, that it is not inconceivable UKIP might win enough seats

in the May 2015 parliamentary vote and become an unavoidable coalition partner to

a governing majority47. Hence, both in France and the United Kingdom, the far right

parties advocating for barriers to immigration are gaining ground by taking away

46 Ford, Robert, Matthew J. Goodwin, and David Cutts. "Strategic Eurosceptics and Polite Xenophobes: Support for the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) in the 2009 European Parliament Elections." European Journal of Political Research, 2012, 204-3447 Pickard, Jim. "Will Britain Need a Coalition of More than Three Parties next Year?" September 1, 2014.

votes mostly from the moderate right, but also from disgruntled “blue collar”

voters48.

Unlike Western Europe, in the United States the issue of immigration is

rather a matter of dispute within both the democratic and republican parties. That is

to say that both parties have an anti and pro-immigrant voice. Diane Feinstein, an

influential Californian Democratic Senator was seen pushing for immigrant reforms,

sponsoring a bill aimed at reducing the backlog of naturalization and visa

applications49. Similarly in 1996, Bill Clinton pushed for a serious reduction in the

number of legal immigrants.50 Yet most recently President Obama has

used executive order to legalize the status of millions of illegal immigrants along

with a reprieve from deportation51. Republicans have also been seen to be divided

on the topic of immigration, a policy which has been the subject of diverse

viewpoints among activists and thinkers on the right. Proposition 187, the 1994

ballot initiative that proposed to prohibit illegal aliens from using health care, public

education as well as other social services was largely promoted by Governor Pete

Wilson, yet the Republican think tank headed by fellow Republican Jack Kemp

48 Ford, Robert, Matthew J. Goodwin, and David Cutts. "Strategic Eurosceptics and Polite Xenophobes: Support for the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) in the 2009 European Parliament Elections." European Journal of Political Research, 2012, 204-3449 "Dianne Feinstein on Immigration." Dianne Feinstein on Immigration. Accessed December 10, 2014. http://www.ontheissues.org/International/Dianne_Feinstein_Immigration.htm.50 Diamond, Sara. "Right-Wing Politics and The Anti-immigration Cause." Social Justice 154-168 (1996).51 Your Complete Guide to Obama’s Immigration Executive Action." Http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/. November 1, 2014.

strongly opposed the proposition. Hence, beneath the surface, the Republican right

was not unified around the goal of making the anti-immigrant issue a priority52.

Another important difference between Western Europe and the United

States, is the amount of money that goes into electoral campaigns. The estimated

price tag for the last 2012 elections in the United States was said to have amounted

to six billion dollars.53 In comparison, in the United Kingdom a total of forty eight

million dollars was spent in the last general election. Furthermore, the airtime for

campaign advertisements is free in the United Kingdom, while in the United States,

Super Pac’s can spend as much as like on political adverts, as long as they don’t

coordinate directly with the campaigns.54 In the United States, spending on

advertisement is protected by the first amendments of freedom of speech, while in

France, the United Kingdom and Germany there are set limits to campaign spending.

In the last German elections Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union’s costs are

said to have been between 20 and 30 million euros, while Obama’s reelection

campaign cost 700 million dollars alone55. Hence, the sheer price of running a party

in the United States inhibits the possibility for new anti-immigrant far right party’s

to emerge. This is not to say that nativism isn’t apparent throughout the country; it

manifest itself through public support of anti-immigration organizations such as

FAIR, Team America PAC and the CCIR in California. These organizations try to

52 Diamond, Sara. "Right-Wing Politics and The Anti-immigration Cause." Social Justice 154-168 (1996).53 Hebblethwaite, Cordelia. "US Election: How Can It Cost $6bn?" BBC News, August 1, 2012.54 ibid55 Khazan, Olga. "Why German Politics Are Much Saner, Cheaper, and Nicer Than Ours." September 1, 2013.

provide assistance to state legislators in passing bills that curb immigrant rights. In

California, even though a highly democratic state, namely because of its high influx

of Hispanic immigrants and a nativist fear of a transformation of the demography of

the population as well as the impact of language, the “save our state initiative” asked

for strict and punitive measures against unauthorized immigrants, which was

cosponsored by the CCIR56

Conclusion

The emergence of radical right parties in Western Europe is due to a

perception of the threat posed by migrants attraction to- and dependency on- the

welfare state, as well as the employment- based frustration felt by its host

population. This is different in the United States, where the adoption of pluralist

laissez faire, minimal state intervention and limited welfare benefits suggest than

newcomers migrate for the purpose of work. Furthermore, in Europe there is a

widespread perception that the growing Muslim population is of a less socially and

culturally compatible nature than the Hispanic population in the USA. Finally the

different political systems in the US and Europe, particularly the dominance of two

cash-rich established parties in the United States, doesn’t allow for a far right party

to emerge. These factors explain why anti-immigration sentiment, although

prevalent in both regions, nurtures and enables far right radical parties in Western

Europe but not in the United States.

56Mudde, Cas. "The Relationship between Immigration and Nativism in Europe and North America." Migration Policy Institute, 2012

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