The PNR and the new far-right in Portuguese democracy

Abstract

The Partido Nacional Renovador (National Renewal Party) represents the latest development in the history of far-right organizations and parties in Portugal. Established at the turn of the century, it occupied a niche unclaimed by any other party, breaking with the universalist and multiracial tradition of Portuguese nationalism. Taking on a unifying role within the far-right associative movement, the party established itself as the Portuguese manifestation of a new lineage of nationalist-populist parties in Western Europe. However, despite having acquired a visibility that was unprecedented among its predecessors in the democratic era, its performance on the electoral stage did not alter the marginal status of the Portuguese far-right.