A related risk is that, despite the success of mainstream democratic parties in beating back the far-right National Front in France’s December 13 regional elections, rightwing populists will encroach more closely on the citadels of European power. Arguably, however, a more insidious threat to democracy comes from the willingness of respectable centre-right European politicians to borrow rhetoric and policies from their extremist rivals. This practice corrodes public discussion by promising simple solutions to complicated problems.
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