Well, here in Austria it's of course the infamous FPOE, which means Freedom party of Austria. Right after the war, it was kind of the trashcan for former NSDAP members, but up to the late 80ies it never got more than 5 percents of the votes and it turned into kind of a liberal party (not in the American sense). Then Jörg Haider took over and from day one his goal was to be as populistic as possible. Immigration has always been an issue since then, as has been the supposed invasion by "African drug dealers". The Xenophobic and racist approach coupled with claiming to be the party for the ordinary disenfranchised people worked and netted an ever growing part of the electorate.
Fast forward to the year 2000. Of course, the Conservatives, who actually lost in the elections of 1999 and came in third, entered a coalition with the FPOE, since it granted them the chancellor. These 6 years are still keeping the courts in business, since Austria entered an age of government corruption that was unique in it's history.
Did the people learn from this? No, they didn't. Did the other parties learn from this? No, they didn't. Right now the FPOE stands at about 20 percent in the polls. They achieved that by of course riding outrageous attacks against immigrants and especially muslims, who they make responsible for every evil happening in Austria. And there's no counterweight. Not like for example in Germany, where the conservatives as well as the Social Democrats or the Green Party are vehemently against Xenophobia. The only good thing about Austrian politics right now is that the Green party also nets more and more votes with every election and they are the only ones taking a real stand against Xenophobic and Islamophobic tendencies.
Fast forward to the year 2000. Of course, the Conservatives, who actually lost in the elections of 1999 and came in third, entered a coalition with the FPOE, since it granted them the chancellor. These 6 years are still keeping the courts in business, since Austria entered an age of government corruption that was unique in it's history.
Did the people learn from this? No, they didn't. Did the other parties learn from this? No, they didn't. Right now the FPOE stands at about 20 percent in the polls. They achieved that by of course riding outrageous attacks against immigrants and especially muslims, who they make responsible for every evil happening in Austria. And there's no counterweight. Not like for example in Germany, where the conservatives as well as the Social Democrats or the Green Party are vehemently against Xenophobia. The only good thing about Austrian politics right now is that the Green party also nets more and more votes with every election and they are the only ones taking a real stand against Xenophobic and Islamophobic tendencies.
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