Populist Parties in Contemporary Europe (original) (raw)

The populist cat-dog: applying the concept of populism to contemporary European party systems

Journal of Political Ideologies, 19(1), 2014, 99-118

Populism is a frequently used yet problematic concept; the term is often ill-defined and randomly applied. While these problems have been widely acknowledged, this article argues that there are still issues with the way populism tends to be used, even if a sound definition is provided. This relates to the fact that it is often not clear whether populism is used to refer to an ideological feature of an exclusive category of political parties or whether populism is seen as a type of discourse which can be expressed by any political actor. In order to illustrate the difficulties with regard to the application of the term populism, several ‘hard’ cases of populism across Europe are discussed. The article argues that in order to stimulate a more accurate use of the term, observers should be explicit not only about the meaning of populism, but also about the form in which it manifests itself.

The Resurgence of Populism in Europe

2018

Since 2016 world politics has been changing to one vested with nativism, protectionism and cultural nostalgia, a world of “post-trust” in which demagogy and populism are used as tools to arouse popular trust and legitimacy. The article outlines three dilemmas the EU faces in regard to populism resurgence and lists several factors for the growth in electorate support for populist political parties, such as migration, inequality, terrorism, crisis of political representation. The author also identifies different factors triggering the rise of populist parties in Western and Eastern countries and has classified the populist appeals in three categories: scapegoating, capitalizing resentments and constructing authority, all colored with new approaches of negation, using Islamophobia and Euroscepticism.

Twenty-First Century Populism: The Spectre of Western European Democracy

Over the last decade, the main area of sustained populist growth has been Western Europe, with populist movements reaching new heights in countries such as France, Italy, Austria and Holland. Twenty-First Century Populism analyses this phenomenon by looking at the conditions facilitating the emergence and success of populism in specific national contexts and then examining why populism has flourished or floundered in those countries. The book also discusses the degree to which populism has affected mainstream politics in Western Europe and examines the inter-relationship between populism, political parties, the media and democracy. Containing chapters by a series of country experts and renowned political scientists from across the continent, this volume is the first to offer an in-depth account of the reasons behind the populist wave in twenty-first century Europe.

European Populism: toward a (stricter) minimal definition

The word populism has been associated to (very) different meanings in the last years. The label of populism is still used to describe parties, leaders, movements, attitudes and also political regimes. Moreover, the adjective “populist” is used in a normative fashion in order to refers in the public debate to denigrate those movements or parties, which contrast the mainstream views. The aim of this paper is twofold: from one side, I would like to define populism in a non-normative fashion in order to avoid a biased distortion of this concept; from the other side, my purpose is to focus on a minimal definition that excludes non-necessary or unrelated features.

The State of Populism in Europe in 2016

2017

The Foundation for European Progressive Studies and Policy Solutions have been monitoring approximately 80 active populist parties in the EU since 2015, under the auspices of The Progressive Post’s Populism Tracker research project. This volume surveys the state, popularity and influence of populist parties in the EU’s 28 Member States in 2016. In this book, we examine the countries in which populist parties were able to achieve real breakthroughs, and those in which they caused ‘more smoke than fire.’ We overview the differences between individual populist parties, and readers can also find a detailed table, listing all significant European populist parties and their current popularity according to opinion polls.