The importance of local political activism in reducing the rise of extremist parties: the impact on young people and migrants

Iman J. Shaikh

King's College London
European Student Policy Competition, April 2020

Executive Summary

This policy paper outlines the relevance and importance of local political activism in reducing the rise of extremist parties, and what the EU can do to encourage its Member States to have greater success in this area. It details why policies implemented in the past, whilst being a good start, are not comprehensive enough, and nor do they offer sufficient scope for local policymakers to implement effective changes directly within their communities. The threat that extremism faces to society is undeniable, and thus this paper outlines two methods that can be utilised to best mitigate its effects by focussing primarily on the most vulnerable groups: young people and migrants. Overall, it calls for the EU to continue encouraging local action and training as outlined in RAN,1 but in addition to this, utilise social media to effectively engage the youth, and provide linguistic and cultural education for migrants, and make these measures compulsory action for Member States.

Full policy paper can be found here.