The Word 'Democracy' in the Speeches of Right-Wing Populist Parties: Critical Discourse Analysis of the Rassemblement National and the Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs

The literature has defined “right-wing populism” (RWP) as political organizations that oppose to democracy. Depending on the author, this opposition is institutional or value-driven. However, RWP presents itself as the defender of democracy. The literature argues that this is a symbolic discourse rooted in a strategy of “normalization” of the party.
I aim to further revise this assumption by asking the question: in the discourse of the Rassemblent National (RN) in France and the Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (FPÖ) in Austria, is “democracy” a “cosmetic term” or is the word “democracy” also ideologically loaded? I first propose to concentrate on the discursive relationship between RWP and the concept of democracy as studied in the literature. Second, I will present the methodology that were selected. Third, I will study the term “democracy” in RN and FPÖ speeches by carrying out a lexicometric analysis and a critical discourse analysis (CDA). I will then deal with different functions of the term “democracy” (cosmetic or symbolic, rhetorical or strategic and ideological) while highlighting tensions in the rhetoric.