ABSTRACT

This chapter explores the perceptions of policy-makers in order to challenge the assumption according to which only one broad policy frame exists at the national scale. The analysis of empirical data teaches us that the numerous actors involved in responses to the radical right developed different policy frames. The intertwining of the institutional setting with the interests and the normative judgments of policy actors contribute to the formation of three policy frames. The first frame is found among security actors and shows the domination of the use of repressive means to respond to right-wing radicalism. A second policy frame, identified among non-state actors, state actors without repressive means, and, to some extent, among judges and German intelligence officers, is characterised by the importance of prevention and regulation based on cooperation between state and non-state actors. Finally, the third policy frame is mostly found among judicial actors who believe in a balanced regulation of right-wing radicalism that oscillates between permissiveness and repression.