There is much overlap and sectors are not mutually exclusive. Methodologies range from cautious moderation, to militant activism, to insurgency, to violence.
Right-wing populist, apocalyptic, and conspiracist styles can be found in several sectors.
Forms of The use of violence, intimidation, surveillance, and discrimination, particularly by the state and/or its civilian allies, to control populations or particular sections of a population. Learn more —racism, Fear of or distaste for people or ideas thought to be strange or foreign. Often fomented to build support for anti-immigrant measures. Learn more , An ideology that assumes a hierarchy of human worth based on the social construction of gender difference. Learn more , An ideology that assumes a hierarchy of human worth based on the social construction of “normal” sexual identity. Learn more , A form of oppression targeting Jews and those perceived to be Jewish, including bigoted speech, violent acts, and discriminatory policy. Learn more , A form of religious bigotry, with strong racial components, that scapegoats & demonizes Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim. Learn more , Arabophobia, A term widely used in both academia and media to indicate beliefs, movements, and policies that limit or discourage immigration, particularly from racially, ethnically, and religiously diverse countries of origin. Learn more , ableism, etc.—vary in each sector.
Secular Right
A neutral term used to describe someone or something, such as in law, as non-religious in character. Learn more Conservatism (Generic) — Share to some degree basic conservative, “Free Market,”& “Judeo-Christian traditional values,” but not categorized here as part of another sector.
Corporate Internationalism (Neoliberals) —Nations should control the flow of people across borders, but not the flow of goods, capital, and profit. Called the “Rockefeller Republicans” in the 1960s. Supports globalization on behalf of transnational corporate interests.
Business The belief in the primacy of “the nation” as the most important political allegiance, that every nation should have its own state, and that it is the primary responsibility of the state and its leaders to preserve the nation. Learn more —Multinational corporations erode national sovereignty; nations should enforce borders for people, but also for goods, capital, and profit through trade restrictions. Enlists grassroots allies from Patriot Movement. Anti-Globalists. Generally protectionist and isolationist.
Economic Libertarianism—The state disrupts the perfect harmony of the free market system. Modern democracy is essentially congruent with capitalism. Small government.
National Security Militarism—Support US military A power orientation that functions to maintain the relative power of some of the population, generally organized around race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or wealth. Learn more and unilateral use of force to protect perceived US national security interests around the world. A major component of Cold War anti-communism, now updated and in shaky alliance with Neoconservatives.
A variant of ideological conservatism combining features of traditional conservatism with political individualism and a qualified endorsement of free markets. Learn more —The egalitarian social liberation movements of the 1960s and 1970s undermined the national consensus. Intellectual oligarchies and political institutions preserve democracy from mob rule. The United States has the right to intervene with military force to protect its perceived interests anywhere in the world. Suspicious of Islam, sometimes Islamophobic.
Religious Right
Religious Conservatism—Play by the rules of a pluralist civil society. Mostly Christians, with handful of conservative Jews, Muslims, Hindus and other people of faith. Moral traditionalists. Cultural and social conservatives. Sometimes critical of A movement that emerged in the 1970s encompassing a wide swath of conservative Catholicism and Protestant evangelicalism. Learn more .
The sectors above this line tend to accept the rules of pluralist civil society and PRA calls them part of the “Conservative Right.”
The sectors below this line tend to reject the rules of pluralist civil society and PRA calls them part of the “Hard Right”
The contemporary idea that America was founded as—and was intended by God to be—a Christian nation. Learn more (Christian Right: Soft Dominionists)—Biblically-defined immorality and sin breed chaos and anarchy. America’s greatness as God’s chosen land has been undermined by liberal secular humanists, feminists, and homosexuals. Purists want litmus tests for issues of abortion, tolerance of gays and lesbians, and prayer in schools. Often a form of Right-Wing A style of politics that involves an effort to mobilize “the people” into a social or political movement around some form of anti-elitism. Such movements can be egalitarian or authoritarian, inclusive or exclusionary, forward-looking or fixated on a romanticized image of the past. Learn more .
Christian In the classical definition, a system in which governmental leaders are clergy. Learn more (Christian Right: Hard Dominionists)—Christian men are ordained by God to run society. Eurocentric version of Christianity based on early Calvinism. Intrinsically Christian ethnocentric, treating non-Christians as second-class citizens, and therefore implicitly antisemitic. Includes A theocratic movement rooted in Christian nationalism which provides a blueprint for the reconstruction of society. Learn more and other theocratic theologies. Elitist.
Xenophobic Right
Patriot Movement (Forms of Right-Wing Populism: Tea Parties, Town Hall Protests, Armed Citizens Militias)—Parasitic liberal elites control the government, media, and banks. Blames societal problems on scapegoats below them on the socio-economic ladder who are portrayed as lazy, sinful, or subversive. Fears government plans tyranny to enforce collectivism and globalism, perhaps as part of a One World Government or New World Order. Americanist. Often supports Business Nationalism due to its isolationist emphasis. Anti-Globalist, yet supports unilateralist national security militarism.
A far-right variant of ideological conservatism emphasizing traditionalism, nationalism, and isolationism. Learn more —Ultra-conservatives and reactionaries. Natural financial oligarchies preserve the republic against democratic mob rule. Usually nativist (White Nationalism), sometimes antisemitic or Christian nationalist. Elitist emphasis similar to the intellectual conservative revolution wing of A style of politics associated with ethnic nationalism, anti-immigrant bigotry, anti-LGBTQ campaigns, and national renewal. Learn more . Often libertarian.
A social movement based on a belief in biologically determined racial hierarchies, often with the ultimate goal of establishing an all-White nation state. Learn more (White Racial Nationalists)—Alien cultures make democracy impossible. Cultural Supremacists argue different races can adopt the dominant (White) culture; Biological Racists argue the immutable integrity of culture, race, and nation. Segregationists want distinct enclaves, Separatists want distinct nations. Americanist. “tribalist” emphasis echoes racial-nationalist wing of the European New Right. Often a form of Right-Wing Populism.
Ultra Right (Sometimes called Far Right or Extreme Right)—Militant forms of insurgent revolutionary right ideology and separatist ethnocentric nationalism. Reject pluralist democracy for an organic oligarchy that unites the homogeneous Volkish nation. Conspiracist views of power are overwhelmingly antisemitic. Home to overt neofascists and neonazis. A U.S.-based White supremacist, Christian paramilitary group formed during the Reconstruction era. Learn more , A White supremacist and antisemitic form of Christianity that believes White Europeans are descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel. Learn more , Creativity Movement, National Socialist Movement, National Alliance. Often uses Right-Wing Populist rhetoric.
