Editorial Note: Populism and Its Impact on the Political Landscape

Abstract

During recent decades, populism and populist political parties have become an integral part of European party systems. With the growing number of successful populist challengers and stabilization of their electoral support in many countries both in the Western and East-Central European countries, an important question has arisen: what is the impact of populism on the political landscape in Europe? This question was addressed by the 2nd Prague Populism Conference which took place in May 2016. It was organized by the Institute of International Studies at Charles University and the Heinrich Böll Foundation in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut. To understand the impact of populism on the political landscape, various researchers from all around the world discussed the growing success of populist parties and movements from a theoretical point of view and as case studies in individual European countries (60 researchers from 20 countries presented their research and findings, including the key note speeches by Michael Freeden, Paul Taggart, and Reinhard Heinisch). The present issue of the Czech Journal of Political Science consists of selected papers presented at the conference.