Transformation of Political Ideas in Modern Europe: An Analysis of Party Programs in the Context of National Identity

Buchnev Evgeny Vladimirovich ORCID: 0000-0002-5511-9784 Postgraduate, Lecturer in the Department of Political Science and Applied Political Work at the Russian State Social University Moscow, Wilhelma Pika street, 4, building 2, 304 buchnevev@rgsu.net

Melnikova Nadezhda Anatolievna Student at the Department of Social and Political Institutions, Processes and Technologies, Russian State Social University 129226, Russia, Moscow oblast', g. Moscow, ul. Vil'gel'ma Pika, 4, kab. vp2 304 kloyzze@gmail.com

In the modern world, the concept of “nationalism" has expanded significantly. If earlier it was understood as ideological views, now it is rather a system of socio-political concepts defined by each state in its own way. Pro-European democratic values are no longer an absolute truth and are subject to the influence of transforming international relations ^[1,2,17]. A number of events taking place in recent decades show the inability of political elites to quickly and efficiently withstand socio-political crises ^[3]. Such events include the global financial crises of 2008 ^{[4, 5]} and 2020 ^[2], the return of the Republic of Crimea to the Russian Federation ^[6], which served to develop ultra-right nationalist ideas in Ukraine ^[7,8].

In order to overcome the voiced problems, European political elites are beginning to turn to the topic of national identity as one of the most accessible ways to minimize socio-political risks ^[9].The European Community, which for a long time played the role of a cultural and political dominant, a landmark of social well-being, quickly became interested in the opportunity to rethink, and later use some nationalist ideas ^[10].The ideas of European multiculturalism and pan-European supranational identity were questioned.Britain's withdrawal from the European Union called into question the principle of tolerance of a European person, which initially implied a gradual independent rejection of national identity.This study offers a critical comparison of the programs of political parties in European states to determine their ideological inclination.

The authors consider the political parties represented in the Parliaments of European countries, dividing them geographically into four regions. The analyzed parties are indicated on the Nolan diagram for a visual representation of their ideological guidelines. The result is shown in the figures - Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3, Figure 4.Norway, Denmark, Great Britain, and Finland were identified as the Nordic countries (Fig. 1).

As can be seen from the diagram, the majority of parliamentary parties tend to liberal or conservative values, besides, there are several cases of personal authoritarianism (party names).  Moreover, the conservative wing focuses on the problems of European integration and euroscepticism, anti-immigration policy and multiculturalism.Figure 1. Political parties of Northern Europe

Figure 2. Political parties of Western and Central Europe

The Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland were identified as the countries of Western and Central Europe. As can be seen from the diagram, the parliamentary parties are evenly distributed according to the main political concepts with a slight bias towards left-wing liberalism.

Figure 3. Political parties of Eastern Europe

Belarus, Moldova, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia were identified as Eastern European countries. In the countries of this region, there are also a small number of parties, the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova, the Communist Party of Belarus, gravitating towards authoritarian governance, which may be related to the political legacy of the Soviet Union. The other parties quite noticeably tend to the right-wing conservatives and the liberal center.

Figure 4. Political parties in Southern Europe 

Cyprus, Croatia, and Serbia were identified as the countries of Southern Europe. As can be seen from the diagram, the majority of parliamentary parties strive for left-wing liberal values. There is an isolated case of economic authoritarianism by the Cypriot Progressive Party of the Working People, and the main nationalist ideas belong to conservative parties. A country

Table 1. The specific weight of some European political parties, indicating the ideological components.

As can be seen in Table 1, where 18 political parties with the most radical political trends are represented, the issue of the formation of national identity and the preservation of national uniqueness is relevant.For more than half a century, nationalist ideas, as well as Nazi and fascist ones, have undergone serious changes: in the first half of the XX century.

they were a response to the national policy of states, an attempt to integrate ethnic groups into the titular nation. Modern nationalism in Europe is caused by other reasons. The migration crisis, during which European countries have experienced and continue to experience a huge influx of refugees, has caused many conflicts with citizens of these states, the police and increased the risk of terrorist acts. So in March 2020, illegal migrants on the border of Turkey and Greece threw Molotov cocktails at border guards' posts. In the same year, a number of terrorist attacks occurred in Austria, Germany and France^[1]. Earlier, in 2015, the explosions in Paris near the Stade de France stadium in the Saint-Denis district, the shooting of visitors to several restaurants, as well as spectators in the Bataclan concert hall, where about 100 people were taken hostage, became resonant^{[2]  [11,12]}.

Humanitarian aid provided to refugees and migrants naturally made citizens feel injustice and resentment, which also increased the ranks of those supporting nationalism. Therefore, in the countries most severely affected by the migration crisis, nationalist parties in their programs tend to tighten migration policy, oppose multiculturalism, and Islamophobia often manifests itself in ideas: the Progress Party (Norway), the New Right (Denmark), True Finns (Finland), Alternative for Germany and others."The AdG considers the ideology of multiculturalism as a serious threat to social peace and the continued existence of the nation as a cultural unit. The state and civil society must confidently protect the German cultural identity" – Alternative for Germany ^[13,14].

"Denmark is a country of Danes, and citizens should be able to live in a safe, legal society that develops in accordance with Danish culture. Foreigners should be able to be admitted into Danish society, but only on condition that this does not endanger security and democracy" – Danish People's Party ^[15].

It should be noted that in some countries, the interest in nationalist concepts is provoked by issues of territorial integrity. The nationalism of Great Britain is primarily connected with its territorial structure. Separatist sentiments of its parts have existed throughout the history of the state and have been preserved to this day in the person of the Scottish National Party and the Party of Wales. These two parties are only seeking a referendum on secession from the United Kingdom. The Welsh Party also sees the need for a revival of the Welsh language. However, none of these structures poses the issues of multiculturalism and migration.The activity of nationalist parties in Cyprus is also caused by historical reasons and territorial disputes ^[16,19].

The National Popular Front and the Democratic Party demand recognition of Turkey as an invader and reunification with the "occupied" territory. In addition, the NSF, like most European countries, is concerned about the influx of refugees and illegal migrants who receive benefits and take jobs that could be given to citizens of the Republic of Cyprus. In many ways, the National Popular Front takes a relatively radical position.

The parties of the Baltic states are characterized by similar ideological views that focus on the influence of Russia and the Kremlin as a common enemy of the historical and national identity of the countries (link). Some parties, for example, the Reform Party of Estonia, the National Association "Everything for Latvia!" — "Fatherland and Freedom/DNNL" and the Union of the Fatherland - Lithuanian Christian Democrats directly say that Russia and the existing Russian political elite threaten the national security of the Baltic states, and that a hybrid war is already underway.

However, an attempt to assess the impact of nationalist ideas will be incomplete without assessing the proportion of party supporters in regional parliaments. The specific gravity will be calculated by the formula:

.

After making the necessary calculations, you can make a map of the specific gravity for these countries in graphical form.

Figure 5. The share of the studied political parties in national parliaments.

Figure 5 shows that European nationalist values have three semantic maxima. For the Baltic states, which have a Russophobic character, their apparent specific gravity is from 18 to 35.46 points. The Nordic countries focus on migration policy and euroscepticism. However, the specific weight of these ideas is from 11 to 19 points. The countries of Western Europe, which are more often characterized by euroscepticism, have a specific weight equal to about 10 points. Switzerland deserves special attention with a large share of 34 points.

While agreeing with the various semantic directions of nationalist ideas, it should be noted that the most economically developed countries of Europe are interested in them.

The interest in the ideas of national identity in European states can be interpreted in different ways, but it is necessary to take into account the historical aspect. Throughout the XX century, national ideas for the whole world were formed in two directions.  On the one hand, the manifestation of extreme Nazism in the Axis countries, preaching the supremacy of one nation over others and leading to an open confrontation with the international community. On the other hand, national identity in the Soviet state: an attempt to form a supranational nation focused on the dominant political ideology. European states opposed both manifestations, which formed an extremely skeptical attitude to the ideas and did not allow them to be critically comprehended.

Rethinking of these ideas in the modern world is a phenomenon associated with the possibility of using them to counter extreme manifestations of nationalism, at the same time partially forms national identity.  Modern states turn to these concepts to solve a number of acute social and economic problems ^[18,20].Russia cannot be excluded from this problem either. The formation of Russia as a sovereign state is firmly linked to the formation of Russian national identity. At the same time, for Russian society, “national” is firmly connected with “patriotic”. The very model of identity formation refers to Russian history, Russian science and Russian art. The Russian national identity is based on patriotism, which allows both to determine the spirituality of development and to accept the experience of a powerful national and cultural past.

ConclusionToday's world is on the verge of the rise of nationalist ideas and movements that are used by parties and political elites to solve state problems.

However, such a trend can only lead to an even greater contradiction. Both Russia and the countries of Western Europe are turning to the ideas of national identity.

The danger of the modern overestimation of the ideas of nationalism is that it encourages atypical thinking, while faith in authority ceases to play a cognitive-functional role.

Nationalist ideas have spread widely today and have penetrated even into the structures of political governance; parties supporting them occupy up to 40% of seats in the parliaments of some states. Nevertheless, it is worth taking into account the possibility of nationalist ideas to have a real impact on the legislative bodies of countries. In some parliaments, nationalist ideas are addressed by parties with a small representation, which indicates their populist nature, focused on the radical part of the population.

Modern man has yet to assess how to perceive this phenomenon. On the one hand, this is a real threat of a clash of ideologies and national values at the state level, on the other - a crisis of human rights and freedoms. Of course, these two views are not opposite and fears of radicalization of the ideology of these parties are not groundless, especially with regard to the countries of Northern and Western Europe, which put forward the most stringent requirements regarding the migration issue and the EU. However, the second vision of the problem presents the situation on a larger scale, speaking in general about the impasse in the development of the European model of democracy, from which they are trying to find a way out in nationalist ideas.

^[1] Ksenia Loginova. Low-cost terrorist attacks: Europe is being shaken by radical Islamist attacks // Izvestia. 2020. November 4. [Electronic resource] URL: https://iz.ru/1081930/kseniia-loginova/terakty-low-cost-evropa-sotriasaiutataki-radikalnykh-islamistov

^[2] Dolgov Boris Vasilyevich Terrorism in Europe: Causes, practice and global aspect // APE. 2017. No. 4. [Electronic resource] URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/terrorizm-v-evrope-prichinyvozniknoveniya-praktika-i-globalnyy-aspekt