Although they had been on the rise for the last few decades, Radical right parties (RRPs) across Europe enjoyed a significant surge in popularity following the refugee crisis of 2015 that saw...Show moreAlthough they had been on the rise for the last few decades, Radical right parties (RRPs) across Europe enjoyed a significant surge in popularity following the refugee crisis of 2015 that saw millions of refugees pour into Europe. While these parties traditionally tend to contest elections on their distinct positions on socio-cultural issues such as immigration and religious polarization, their attitudes and preferences on socio-economic issues such as the welfare state have received little scholarly attention until recently. This paper aims to contribute to the growing literature in this domain by examining the changes in welfare attitudes of two RRPs: Germany’s AfD and United Kingdom’s UKIP, in light of the 2015 refugee. Analysis of the two parties’ election manifestos for general elections held before and after the crisis shows that the radical-right ideology of nativism and xenophobia is more pronounced in the socio-cultural dimension for both parties in the post-crisis period. But when it comes to the socio-economic dimension and their attitudes towards the welfare state, radical-right behaviour of welfare chauvinism is more pronounced in AfD’s post-crisis manifesto compared to UKIP’s. The paper concludes by suggesting that this disparity in welfare attitudes may possibly be a result of the two countries having different types of welfare regimes more than due to their different experience with the refugee crisis itself.Show less
