#media-normalization

#media-normalization

"Because we are a violent species," I added before taking another sip of my wine. Sure, I was watching the movie through melancholic lenses, riding the descending wave of a major depressive episode-but I've found those moments can be unusually revelatory. It is true that people, on a certain level, can be unnecessarily violent. I hope there is more to life than deriving entertainment from the "good guys fighting the bad guys." But at this time, among our species, "us vs. them" sells.

This election is a direct result of this fragmentation and instability. The far-right Freedom Party (PVV) led by Geert Wilders dominated the last ruling coalition, but still pulled the plug in July, after less than a year. The various lessons that the Dutch media, political parties, and voters have drawn from this tumultuous experience should be relevant beyond the Netherlands, given that most European countries are struggling with a similar challenge: how to deal with the increasing electoral, ideological and political success.

The Berlin-based researchers found that as the far right moved from fringe issues in the late 1990s to topics such as integration and migration, mainstream parties had increasingly reshaped their communications to respond, boosting the spread of these ideas and signalling to voters that these ideas and stances were legitimate. The overarching result had crucial implications for democracy, said Teresa Volker, a political sociologist at Berlin Social Science Center and co-author of the study.