ABSTRACT
In 1992 the Italian political scientist Piero Ignazi wrote an influential article, arguing that the rise of Europe's "extreme right" parties was the consequence of a "silent counter-revolution". While the thesis has some merit in Europe, it might be better applied to the recent rise of Trump(ism) in the US. Most US commentators consider Donald Trump as the American representative of a broader Western phenomenon, i.e. the rise of "populist" or "far right" politics, but few of them are aware of the over three decades of academic research that explains this rise. The more interesting question is not so much how Trump could beat Clinton, but how Trump could become the leader of the mainstream right-wing party. This process barely played out in Europe, because, with perhaps the exception of the UK, neoconservatism never really took hold of the mainstream right-wing parties.
