ABSTRACT
The writer Tom Wolfe is said to said to have observed that “the specter of fascism is constantly hover ing over America but always seems to land in Europe.” With the break-up of the Soviet empire and the world of social ist (and “anti-fascist”) regimes in Eastern Europe, there seems to be even more landing ground now. But in contrast to the wide spread liter at ure on the trans form a tion process in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE),1 schol arly atten tion to rightwing radical or ultrana tion al ist parties and move ments in the region and their impact on demo cratic consol id a tion is scattered. So far, only a few essays and contri bu tions to edited volumes have addressed the topic; most of the liter at ure is journ al istic rather than academic, and country-specific rather than compar at ive.2 Often, analo gies are drawn between the post1989 CEE radical right and inter war fascism in terms of images of a “Weimarization” of Eastern European polit ics and the return of the precom mun ist, ultrana tion al ist or even fascist past.3 However, with few but notable excep tions such as Russia or Croatia, these groups have very little success at the polls. Thus, another inter pret a tion of the phenomenon argues that since Central and Eastern European party systems increas ingly resemble their West European coun ter parts, so does the radical right, at least where it is success ful elect or ally.4
