Comparing the far right(s)

In its extreme, radical, and populist forms, the far right is probably the most studied political family in political science and political sociology. Without claiming to be exhaustive, the article offers a state of the art of existing comparative research on this theme, structured around three questions: what are the main issues addressed? What case studies, data, and methods are used? What avenues for future research are desirable in a field of study that is already so rich? The article reviews the developments in recent comparative studies in French and English languages on parties of the Radical right. I show that progressively, researchers have expanded the issues and cases of interest. However, since the 1990s, the theoretical and methodological innovation remain rather modest, especially when it comes to explaining their electoral performances. In addition, studies focusing on the “impact” of the Radical right remain focused on policy areas such as immigration and European integration. From this overview, the paper highlights on the one hand, the need for innovative comparative research that recognizes (more explicitly) the variety in the field of the far right and that critically questions the use of the word “populism”; on the other hand, the need for research that goes beyond the paradigm of the “challenger” party for the Radical right in order to grasp its evolutions in contemporary democracies.