TY - JOUR
T1 - Extreme right footsoldiers, legacy effects and deprivation
T2 - a contextual analysis of the leaked British National Party (BNP) membership list
AU - Goodwin, Matthew
AU - Ford, Robert
AU - Cutts, David
PY - 2013/11
Y1 - 2013/11
N2 - Despite a vast pan-European literature on extreme right parties (ERPs), few studies speak convincingly to questions of party membership and activism. This article draws on a unique membership dataset to examine contextual predictors of membership of the British National Party (BNP), currently the dominant representative of the extreme right in British politics. We operationalize and test for the impact of both demand-side and supply-side factors, including the seldom examined effects of historical legacies, and of party activism and electoral success on membership levels. Aside from congregating in urban areas that are more deprived and have low education levels, we also find evidence of a ‘legacy effect’, whereby membership levels are higher in areas with a historic tradition of extreme right activism. This research is the first ever systematic investigation of national extreme right party membership.
AB - Despite a vast pan-European literature on extreme right parties (ERPs), few studies speak convincingly to questions of party membership and activism. This article draws on a unique membership dataset to examine contextual predictors of membership of the British National Party (BNP), currently the dominant representative of the extreme right in British politics. We operationalize and test for the impact of both demand-side and supply-side factors, including the seldom examined effects of historical legacies, and of party activism and electoral success on membership levels. Aside from congregating in urban areas that are more deprived and have low education levels, we also find evidence of a ‘legacy effect’, whereby membership levels are higher in areas with a historic tradition of extreme right activism. This research is the first ever systematic investigation of national extreme right party membership.
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1354068811436034
U2 - 10.1177/1354068811436034
DO - 10.1177/1354068811436034
M3 - Article
VL - 19
SP - 887
EP - 906
JO - Party Politics
JF - Party Politics
SN - 1354-0688
IS - 6
ER -