Organizing Against Democracy
The Local Organizational Development of Far Right Parties in Greece and Europe

Using novel data, the book develops a new theory on how European far-right parties establish roots in local societies.

Antonis A. Ellinas (Author)

9781108400350, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 3 March 2022

296 pages, 24 b/w illus. 8 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.441 kg

'Many great studies of the far-right view this topic from the top down, and we need more work that looks at it from the ground up. This absorbing and impressively detailed book does exactly that. Ellinas clearly demonstrates that local-level organization, or the lack thereof, matters. For those concerned about the rise of extremism, this book also suggests, optimistically, that counter-mobilisation can make a difference.' Tim Bale, Sage Journals

Organizing Against Democracy investigates some of the most important challenges modern democracies face, filling a distinctive gap in the literature, both empirically and theoretically. Ellinas examines the attempts of three of the most extreme European far-right parties to establish roots in local societies, and the responses of democratic actors. He offers a theory of local party development to analyze the many factors affecting the evolution of far-right parties at the subnational level. Using extraordinarily rich data, the author examines the 'lives' of local far-right party organizations in Greece, Germany and Slovakia, studying thousands of party activities and interviewing dozens of party leaders and functionaries, and antifascists. He goes on to explore how and why extreme parties succeed in some local settings while, in others, they fail. This book broadens our understanding of right-wing extremism, illuminating the factors limiting its corrosiveness.

1. Introduction
2. Extremist right-wing parties in Europe
3. The organizational development of extremist right-wing parties
4. The organizational development of the Golden Dawn
5. Variation in local organizational development
6. Endogenous drivers of local organizational development
7. Electoral drivers of local organizational development
8. The state and local organizational development
9. Societal reactions and local organizational development
10. The local development of extremist right-wing parties in Germany and Slovakia
11. Conclusions.

Subject Areas: Comparative politics [JPB], Politics & government [JP]