Are Anti-Immigrant Parties Compatible with the Principles of Liberal Democracy?

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Abstract

Think of any children’s social game. Each has its own criteria and rules. Participation in such a game presupposes that players have accepted its rules and criteria (whether these are agreed on ad hoc or previously known). If the players do not accept the rules and criteria or do not respect them in the gaming process, the game cannot take place and ends abruptly (with small children it ends in tears, with older children with fists). If we transfer that to the political sphere we can ask a question: “What is going to happen if political parties do not respect the well-known rules of the political game?” In an attempt to answer the question posed, we will present the relationship between the political attitudes of anti-immigrant parties and the political principles of liberal democracy using electoral promotional materials and the electoral discourse of the Austrian political party Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs. In this article we will present the basic features of anti-immigrant parties, democratic standards of the European Union and the Austrian political party Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs.