Far right mobilization in hybrid regimes: evidence from Georgia and Ukraine

How and why does regime type impact far-right mobilization? Most of our knowledge about the far right comes from studies of Western democracies, leaving far-right mobilization in hybrid regimes underexplored and undertheorized. Yet far-right mobilization in hybrid regimes often differs from that in consolidated democracies: First, parties in hybrid regimes are not necessarily vote-seeking, so they prioritize protest over electoral politics. Thus, electoral success may not moderate protest, as it does in democracies. Second, the far right may have more indirect influence in hybrid regimes. Even when far-right parties are electorally weak, their ideas may be absorbed by mainstream parties, giving them agenda-setting power. These arguments have three broad implications. First, the scope conditions of democracy-oriented theories need to be specified before applying them to non-democracies. Second, far-right movements may have less agency in hybrid regimes. And third, the far right may be more detrimental in hybrid regimes than in democracies.