Liberal governments across the world are slowly falling apart as the same issues that got President-elect Donald Trump elected are propelling the right globally.
Canada, Germany, France and other liberal governments have faced popular backlash, with issues like inflation, unchecked immigration and distrust of their ruling classes fueling conservative party victories, according to multiple sources. Moreover, the grievances expressed in the nations seemingly mirror those that propelled Trump to his 2024 election victory.
In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s popularity has taken a hit, with only 28% of Canadians approving of his job performance, according to the research non-profit Angus Reid Institute. Additionally, Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned from her cabinet post on Monday due in part to a dispute Trudeau had with Trump over tariffs, according to The Associated Press.
Over 70% of Canadians say cost of living is the most important issue facing them, while 33% listed the economy and 27% said immigration were the most pressing issues, according to Abacus data in July. Under Trudeau, the cost of groceries increased by 21.4% from April 2021 to 2024, according to Statistics Canada.
Economic issues propelled Trump to victory as it did for many right-leaning parties globally, with 90% of U.S. voters saying prior to the election it was important to their vote, according to a Gallup poll released in October. Additionally, 72% of U.S. voters said immigration was important when deciding which candidate to support.19, 2023, in New York City. (Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)
In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the left-wing Social Democratic Party (SPD) lost a vote of confidence on Monday, which increases the chances of triggering an early election in February, according to the AP. A coalition of parties led by Friedrich Merz of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is currently leading Scholz in polling by a healthy margin.
Scholz’s coalition government effectively collapsed when he fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner on Nov. 6, a member of the pro-business party Free Democrats, according to the AP.
Immigration and refugee policy is a top issue for Germans, with 77% saying the country needed a “fundamentally different asylum and refugee policy so that fewer people come to us,” according to Deutsche Welle (DW) in September.
Germany has 3.48 million refugees within its borders, a new all-time high, according to DW in September. One-third of the refugees came from Ukraine due to the war with Russia. Germans are also facing energy issues, with the country shutting off its last three nuclear power plants in April 2023, according to Clean Energy Wire.
France also faces trouble as it struggles to pass a budget bill amid massive deficit spending the previous year, according to The New York Times. Centrist François Bayrou was appointed new prime minister on Friday after his predecessor was forced out Dec. 4 with a vote of no confidence, signaling the effective collapse of the coalition government that formed after snap elections in the summer.
In order to pass the budget, Bayrou will have to form a new government between the disparate parties of France’s National Assembly, according to Politico. Bayrou will likely either have to gain support from the right-wing bloc of the Assembly or appeal more to moderates in the left-wing coalition.
France’s right-leaning National Rally had a surge in support in the first round of elections, but ultimately the left-wing New Popular Front won in the final round, producing a hung parliament, according to The Economist.
Purchasing power was the most important issue to French voters, with 59% of voters in agreement, according to Statista in June. Immigration came in second, with 39% of voters saying it was a top issue.
In 2023, France issued a new high of 320,000 first-time residence permits to foreigners, according to Le Monde in January. Inflation has steadily ticked up as well, remaining above 4% annually since 2022, according to MacroTrends Data.
“There is a very clear crisis of Franco-German leadership that is intensifying with the collapse of the German coalition, and with France self-absorbed by its own internal political divisions,” Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer, the president of the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Paris, told The New York Times in November. “And that’s a handicap on the European and international stage.”
Argentina elected libertarian Javier Milei to the presidency in 2023, defeating his left wing challenger after the country faced massive inflation and economic hardship, according to the AP. Milei will also attend Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
Moreover, A right-leaning coalition government in the Netherlands also won their election decisively in 2023, running on growing concerns about immigration, the asylum system and cost of living, according to the BBC.
The Netherlands accepts refugees at the European Union average rate, however, the country has comparatively less capacity to process the volume of refugees, according to Reuters in September.
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