Displaced by the growth of far-right forces, center and moderate right-wing parties are losing membership and electoral density in Western democracies.
Where the system is multiparty, radicals created their own parties. Examples: the National Front, in France; a ; o , in Portugal; Vox, in Spain; the Freedom Party in Austria; the Finns, in Finland; the Swiss People’s Party and its Danish namesake; the Prime Minister’s Brothers of Italy; while four organizations dispute the inheritance of Golden Dawn, banned from political life in Greece in 2020.
Where the majority electoral system guarantees bipartisanship, things are more difficult, but not impossible. While Reform the United Kingdom, by the British Nigel Farage, is on the heels of the Conservative Party, in the United States, and its followers, having taken over the Republican Party, quickly tried to disfigure it.
In Argentina, a similar tide allowed anti-Peronism to swim in the electoral space, while in , , with its Republican Party, it displaced the representatives of the traditional right.
Here in Brazil, where the ultra-fragmented party system has a more unstable composition, we may be heading in a slightly different direction. After Bolsonaro’s victory in 2018, the far right asserted itself with its own strength and appearance. However, what we are witnessing today is not the hemorrhaging of right-wing parties fueling the growth of the extreme right, in its Bolsonarist version. She is undeniably strong —on the streets and at the polls—, but always in the minority.
Behold, on the right, there is an important attempt at differentiation against the extreme minority. This is the point of recent efforts by , leader of , to offer the electorate a pragmatic conservative alternative.
It is worth remembering that the party had an excellent performance in the last municipal election, surpassing the mark of 650 city halls: it won or maintained administrations in strategic capitals and medium-sized cities, in addition to expanding its reach in small and medium-sized municipalities, especially in the Southeast, South and Northeast regions. The result reinforced the PSD’s position as a powerful electoral machine rooted in the base of the political system, making it possible to increase its representation in the Chamber in 2026. Today, it is relevant in both Houses of Congress.
Kassab’s party grew mainly at the expense of and , parties that occupied the center of the political arena. From the first it has mainly absorbed municipal staff; in the second, it has recruited state leaders and federal parliamentarians. The maneuvers benefit from the 2017 legislation, which encourages a reduction in the number of parties.
The celebrated incorporation of three pre-candidate governors for the Presidency suggests the ambition to participate in the national dispute as an alternative to Bolsonarism. This may not happen; or which, if occurring, is unsuccessful. In any case, the reorganization of the right seems to be underway and does not resemble what is happening in other democracies.
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