Radical Right and Presidential Debates in Argentina, Brazil, and the United States
by Juan Bautista Lucca, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Argentina and Observatory of Political Reforms in Latin America.
The rise and political ascension of right-wing factions in the 21st century is a global phenomenon, ranging from Turkey to Argentina, from Poland to Brazil, and from the United States to Austria, among other examples. To account for this diverse scenario, one of the main analytical strategies employed has been to lower the level of generalization by labeling, classifying, and distinguishing them from other, previous expressions of the right-wing. However, analytical frames that allow comparisons among different regions while avoiding issues such as parochialism, conceptual stretching, or difficulty in translating the attributes that compose it from one context to another, are very scarce. One of the few exceptions is the proposal made by Cass Mudde (2024), which anchors his definition of “radical right” in the identification of three nodal attributes: nativism, authoritarianism, and populism.
Donald Trump in the United States, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, and Javier Milei in Argentina are prototypical examples of the contemporary radical right that are frequently compared by the press and the public. However, they are rarely subjected to in-depth comparative analysis by academia. Therefore, we propose a qualitative, discourse positioning, methodological design through a theoretical interpretation grounded in data (Strauss & Corbin, 1998, p.102; Glaser & Strauss, 1967, p.65) concerning the three main attributes of the “radical right”. These attributes are expressed by Trump during the 2024 U.S. presidential election campaign, in the debates held on June 27 between Trump and Joe Biden and on September 10 between Trump and Kamala Harris; by Milei during the 2023 Argentine presidential elections, in the official debates on October 1 and October 8, as well as the second ballot held on November 12; and by Jair Bolsonaro during the 2022 Brazilian presidential election, in the televised debates on September 29, October 16 and October 29.
Firstly, nativism in the discourses of the three candidates is evident in their references to the defense of the national identity, the preference for what is “native” and the use of negative stereotypes against foreigners.
Secondly, the authoritarian component -clearly with different historical trajectories- shows strong coincidences in terms of the notions of “Order and Discipline”, as well as in the implementation of rigorous security policies.
Lastly, in the discourses of Trump, Bolsonaro, and Milei, populism is rooted in a leader's personality cult, an identification based on their personal reputation, an anti-establishment discourse grounded in anti-political elite features, and the construction of an idea of “the people”. “The people” are not understood as a specific social category -peasants, workers, etc.- but is rather understood in terms of “good men” or ordinary, hard-working people.
In conclusion, a comparative analysis of the presidential discourse of three exponents of the contemporary radical right enabled us to identify irregularities or similarities, test theoretical generalizations and the ones elaborated on public opinion, and expand the explanatory capacity of the concept beyond its discovery context. This approach allowed us to avoid being blinded by contrasting contexts or the tropical, southern, or northern variations emerging from three novel and unique cases.
References:
Glaser, B. & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory. Chicago: Aldine Press.
Mudde, C. (2024). Populismo y derecha radical en el siglo XXI. Rosario, Argentina: UNR Editora.
Strauss, A., and Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
How to cite:
Bautista, Juan (5 de febrero del 2025). Radical Right and Presidential Debates in Argentina, Brazil, and the United States. Blog #LABdata, Observatorio de Reformas Políticas en América Latina. https://observatorioreformas.substack.com/p/738e5495-440d-459c-be74-c3f268e4b41c