Alternative variants of the demand-side thesis suggest that the rise of the radical right is fueled by shifts in public opinion generated by the growth of multiculturalism and more ethnically diverse societies found today in postindustrial nations. Social change is thought to be driven by many factors associated with processes of globalization, notably by patterns of long-term population migration, growing numbers of refugees and asylum seekers fleeing armed conflict, civil wars, and failed states, and more permeable national borders and more open labor markets. Many accounts assume that a public backlash against these trends has triggered the success of outspoken leaders such as Le Pen and Haider, especially where mainstream parties and liberal elites in the European Union and Anglo-American democracies have failed to respond to any public resentment and growing hostility directed against ‘foreigners’ by setting stricter limits on immigration and asylum seekers. Election results are often regarded as a direct indicator of the state of public opinion in a society; given their heated rhetoric about the need for cultural protectionism, the electoral popularity of the radical right in Austria, Switzerland, and Belgium is understood to reflect growing racial intolerance and widespread xenophobia throughout these societies.

Although a popular argument, this account demonstrates that in fact no automatic and direct relationship exists between aggregate indicators of the growth of multiculturalism in society (including the inflow of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers into any country), the balance of public opinion on these issues, and the share of the vote won by radical right parties.