The article addresses the question of what kind of discursive strategies enable political parties the proliferation of racist and xenophobic ideas, in terms of a democratic society and within established politics. Theoretically, it is based on studies of racism, populism and the radical right. In the empirical part, elements of racism and (radical-right) populism in the discourse of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) are analysed, with particular focus on the othering discourse. The discourse analysis includes interviews of party representatives and texts published on party’s websites. The SDS discourse analysis shows that the party articulates social problems through the use of nationalist, nativist and essentialist arguments, and proliferates and normalizes xenophobic and racist ideas by reproducing minorities and political opponents as threats to the Slovenian culture, values and lifestyle, as well as threats to the party itself.
