Right-wing opposition to the mainstream radical right: the cases of Hungary and Poland

Abstract

The aim of this article is to compare the role played by radical right and right wing parties in opposition to the mainstream radical right wing governments in Hungary and Poland. We analyse the role developed by the parties Jobbik and Our Homeland in Hungary, while in Poland we focus on the case of Konfederacja. However, while these parties are not important considering their number of Deputies in Parliament, they are relevant in shaping the political climate. Their presence and success is part of the same right wing ecosystem and conditions that sustains the mainstream radical right. Between these parties and the government have been established different kinds of relationships that we consider as: collaboration (Our Homeland), competition from the radical right (first Jobbik and Konfederacja) and competition from the centre (second Jobbik).