Many democracies in Europe have or have had extreme right nationalists/fascists in power and much of the same trajectory happened. Uttering that there might be problems with immigration policies was a complete taboo as the extreme right made extremely strict (and thus different) policies there a major point of their discourse.
But what happens when you don't discuss a subject that the voters consider (right or not - that's not even the issue!) important and worrying?
It wasn't until the subject was considered debatable by more centrist parties that this rise was halted, or at least coupled with less worrying ideologies.
Indeed. Here is the great truth - for most people, race matters, and always will. They want to live with people of the same ethnicity, with the same history, in the same territory.
The breakup of Yugoslavia suggested ethno-nationalism was on the rise, but the elites continued to push (if not intensified) mass immigration in the West.
This has created the seedbed for the new "anti-politics". It is in its first phase, and I expect it to last for around 30 years.
But what happens when you don't discuss a subject that the voters consider (right or not - that's not even the issue!) important and worrying?
It wasn't until the subject was considered debatable by more centrist parties that this rise was halted, or at least coupled with less worrying ideologies.