Populist Ideas Research Articles

Understanding and evaluating populist strategy

Populism describes those strategies which actors endorsing populist ideas must use in order to be considered populist. Typical populist strategies include the hijacking of state institutions; the development of clientelistic relationships with constituencies labelled the people, or employing certain rhetorical moves in which enmity between the people and a corrupt elite looms large. In this paper, I argue against tendencies to define populism according to a specific set of tactics that are supposed to flow directly from populist ideas. Instead, populism should be understood in terms of a particular orientation, which grounds and justifies a range of strategies, all of which – nefarious or otherwise – should be considered populist. This orientation posits that enmity between ‘the people’ and an elite is a defining feature of political life, in part because it is responsible for serious failures in a country’s ostensibly democratic institutions. These failures create a degree of ambivalence with respect to these institutions’ claims to authority and obedience, and generate the perception that political actors thereby enjoy an expanded set of moral permissions. Finally, populists argue that elites prosecute revanchist projects aimed at resisting populist pathways to power and undermining them once in office. Populist strategies then are simply whatever range of tactics political actors use who accept the validity of that above orientation.

Rethinking our protagonists: Absence on screen and meta-narratives of empire

In this article I argue that responsibility for diversity needs to be inbuilt at a much earlier stage in the screen drama production process – from the very moment, indeed, when protagonists and plotlines are first conceived. Genuine diversity is everyone’s responsibility, not just the ‘diversity manager’ or ‘diversity initiative’. This is an issue for screenwriters, for the education of screenwriters and it is something that screenwriting research needs to explore. My focus falls here on historical drama, for which I argue that inbuilt diversity is especially pressing. Populist ideas about the past impact the lives of ethnic minorities today, and are perpetuated by invisibility, which is then treated as evidence of that same invisibility. I explore how Britain’s relationship with colonial Australia is understood – and perpetuated – through the meta-narrative of Empire and culture and how this informs my approach to my own writing practice. This article is based on the papers presented at the 2017 Screenwriting Research Network (SRN) conference, University of Otago, Dunedin; the 2019 European Association of Studies of Australia (EASA) Conference in Toulon, and at the 2019 Australian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP) conference, University of Technology, Sydney.

Populist Skirmishers: Frontrunners of Populist Radical Right in Poland

Mainstream parties, like PiS in Poland, have to cater to broad segments of society to sustain broad support. Cultivation of populist radical right ideologies of authoritarianism, traditionalism, religiosity, and nativism—all interlaced with gender as a nemesis and the nation as a deity—takes highly motivated, confrontational politicians who prepare the ground for radical populist ideas to take root in the electorate’s minds, who mobilize voters through radicalization. This article introduces the concept of “populist skirmishers” to the literature on populism, adding this to Cas Mudde’s basket of major mobilizing forces of populism, that is, a populist leader, a social movement, and a political party. Though it might be considered an unnecessary elevation of a profession that perverts the rules of civility in the public sphere, polarizes electorates, and does whatever it takes to derail the project of European integration, I argue that understanding the modus operandi and functions of populist skirmishers is indispensable to furthering our understanding of populism.

The effect of party identification and party cues on populist attitudes

In recent years, a wave of populist leaders has emerged in many democratic countries, including the United States. Previous studies have argued that populist rhetoric matters for leaders’ electoral support because the public has populist attitudes, which are activated in contexts of failure of democratic governance or economic crises. This paper investigates the opposite causal direction and argues that people’s support for populist ideas can be an effect rather than a cause of leaders’ electoral support. People who support a candidate due to the candidate’s party affiliation or policy position tend to support or oppose populist or anti-populist messages if they learn that the candidate of the party they identify with supports that message. The paper investigates the argument with an experiment that randomly assigns (anti-)populist messages and a cue about the candidate that supports the message. The experiment shows that voters’ party identification largely affects support for both populist and anti-populist messages.

Europe against the people: does eurosceptic news exposure relate to populist attitudes? Evidence from a linkage study across nine European countries

ABSTRACT The media’s attention to populism is oftentimes associated with its electoral success. In this paper, we propose that the relationship between media coverage and populist beliefs among citizens can be understood as an over-time cultivation of support for populist ideology due to the media’s attention to populist ideas and policies. The media may devote attention to ideas high on the populist agenda, such as Euroscepticism, which may prime populist worldviews among individuals. To test this expectation, we first use a comparative study in nine EU countries for which we link content analytic data on negativity toward the EU in the media to panel survey data measuring populist attitudes. Overall, we find that exposure to negative news on the EU does not trigger populist attitudes. In a more detailed case study in the Netherlands across multiple panel waves, we do find that social media exposure is more likely to be associated with populist attitudes than traditional news exposure. Together, our study offers limited support for the notion that attention to Euroscepticism in established media can fuel populist attitudes among voters.

Perceived Exclusionary Disadvantages and Populist Attitudes: Evidence from Comparative and Longitudinal Survey Data in Six European Countries

Recent ethnographic research has argued that subjective impressions of disadvantage are important to explain support for radical populist parties. Yet, the question of how such perceived disadvantages relate to populist attitudes as an expression of populist ideas has received less attention. In this regard, this study sets out to investigate the relationship between subjective group relative deprivation and populist attitudes. I argue that subjective group relative deprivation is positively related to populist attitudes. Going beyond previous research, I account for the possibility that populist attitudes also positively affect feelings of disadvantage, resulting in a vicious circle of disadvantage and populism. Results from three original cross-sectional surveys in six European countries show that subjective group relative deprivation is positively related to populist attitudes. More importantly, analyses of original panel data show that fully understanding the relationship between populism and disadvantage requires taking both directions of causality into account.

Yelling from the sidelines? How German parties employ populist and crisis-related messages on Facebook

ABSTRACT The possibilities of unfiltered communication in social media provide the perfect opportunity structure for spreading populist ideas. Generally, populist communication features an antagonistic worldview that blames elites for betraying the people and promises to reverse a ‘downward societal trend’ by bringing the people's ‘real’ interests back into politics. Although populist success is often attributed to crisis-induced dissatisfaction, research remains unclear on whether and how political actors foster such negative societal perceptions. Building on the German case, our paper accomplishes two things: It explores the use of populist social media communication and relates it to the exploitation of crisis-related messages among political parties. Conducting a manual content analysis of 3,500 Facebook posts by German parties and leading politicians, we find that the outsider parties AfD and the Left use and combine populist and crisis-related messages by far the most. Insider parties also spread crisis-related content to some extent. However, like the government parties, they are very reluctant to communicate in a populist way. By explaining the communicative output with their relative position in the party system, we deepen the understanding of parties’ social media behaviour. Overall, this study offers more in-depth insights into how politicians influence perceptions of the societal state.

Empowering the People’s Truth Through Social Media? (De)Legitimizing Truth Claims of Populist Politicians and Citizens

Right-wing populists have allegedly fueled increasing levels of distrust regarding expert knowledge and empirical evidence. Yet, we know little about how right-wing populist politicians and citizens use social media to construct and oppose truth claims. Using a qualitative analysis of Twitter and Facebook posts communicated by right-wing populists and citizens supporting populist ideas in the Netherlands, this article offers in-depth insights into processes of legitimization (confirming truth claims) and de-legitimization (opposing truth claims). The main conclusion is that right-wing populists and citizens supporting populism do not share a universal way of referring to reality. They use social media to communicate a confirmation-biased reality: Expert knowledge and evidence are de-contextualized or reinterpreted and aligned with right-wing populist agendas. References to the people’s experiences and worldviews, conspiracy theories and crisis sentiments are used to legitimize people’s opposition to expert knowledge and empirical evidence. Based on these findings, we coin the idea of an “adaptable construction of confirmation-biased truth claims” central in right-wing populist interpretations of reality. In times of increasing attacks on expert knowledge and empirical evidence, populist discourse may fuel an antagonism between the ordinary people’s experiences and the truth claims of established media channels and politicians in government. Social media offer a platform to members of the public to engage in discussions about (un)truthfulness, perceived deception, and populist oppositions—potentially amplifying divides between the ordinary people’s experiences and expert sources.

The phenomenon of populism in developed and transitional societies: features of manifestations and determinants

Recently, in many countries around the world there is a coming to power of political forces that differ from established political actors. The concept of «populism» is used when charismatic leaders and their parties offer the population to overcome existing socio-economic problems through simple, non-institutional solutions. Although these politicians and parties may differ in ideological rhetoric, they all have common features. The scientific literature indicates that several populist ideas are universal for most modern societies, which find a response among the electorate: people-centrism, anti-elitism and homogeneity of the people. In Western, established societies, there is support for right-wing populist parties. This is due to the dissatisfaction of the population with the changes caused by globalization. The processes of deindustrialization, informatization and the influx of migrants have intensified competition in the labor market. However, the decisive factor in supporting populism in Western European countries was the reaction of the once dominant sections of the population to changing values. The displacement of familiar norms of life infuriates people with traditional class identities. In contrast, in the post-communist societies of Central and Eastern Europe, in addition to the challenges of globalization, corruption and economic regulation have been added. Populist orientations in Eastern European societies are largely driven by factors related to socio-economic status and national identity. These conclusions are important for the study of populist orientations in Ukrainian society.

Peculiarities of measuring the citizens’ populist orientations in the social sciences

In connection with the spread of populism in the world there was a question of measuring populist orientations. In the social sciences, several scales of measurement have been proposed, based on the already stable conceptualization of attitudes toward populist ideas. The structure of populist orientations has a multidimensional composition consisting of two or more conceptual components. Citizens are considered populists if they adopt anti-elitist views, have a Manichean vision of political processes, and believe in unlimited popular sovereignty as opposed to the pluralistic procedures of representative democracy. The article states the existence of conceptual convergence in attempts to empirically study the support of populism at the mass level. At the same time, it is pointed out that an adaptation of the scales for measuring populist orientations for the study of Ukrainian society should take into account the peculiarities of citizens’ attitudes towards post-communist elites. After all, Ukraine is characterized by the absence of a long state tradition of selecting the ruling elite, when a negative attitude towards the political class prevails, regardless of populist orientations. And this raises some caveats for the use of measurement techniques that are more acceptable for the study of established societies.

Сотериология Г.И. Успенского: от «свиньи» к «ангелу»

In modern philological studies, interest in the pathological in Gleb Uspensky's creative personality prevails, namely in the history of his mental illness. The content of the hallucinations of the patient Uspensky is explained exclusively by his suppressed and deformed sexuality. The article offers a different look at Uspensky's creative personality. The aim of the article is to identify the religious and ethical dominant in the creative personality of Uspensky. The research material includes Uspensky's literary texts and documents related to the history of his illness (letters, memoirs of contemporaries, autobiography of the writer). The methodological basis of this study amounted to a combination of methods of biographic, textual, and comparative historical analysis. The article proves that in Uspensky's works, long before his fatal illness, the plot about the struggle of a person with their animal nature was realized. The animal image in Uspensky's essays goes back to penitential canons, in which a sinner, calling to Christ, compares oneself to a “pig lying in feces”. The Christian understanding of sin was complicated by a complex of populist ideas about the social guilt of the privileged classes. Only those heroes of Uspensky who are not engaged in physical labor and do not help people resemble pigs. The article discusses the specificity of the writer's religious views. According to Uspensky, Christ is a hidden God. Invisible and unnamed, he is there with Uspensky's characters in their acts of repentance. Images of the Savior and the resurrection from the dead dominate in Uspensky's late works and form the plot outline of his hallucinations in illness. As a result of the analysis of documentary evidence related to the writer's illness, it is concluded that the experience of spiritual weakness in the struggle with the “pig” was assessed by the sick Uspensky as a path to resurrection, that is, to the restoration of the image and likeness of God in himself. Comparison of Uspensky's letters, as well as the memoirs of his contemporaries, allows concluding that the sick writer perceived himself and those around him as direct participants in the Gospel events - the mystery of the Resurrection. The writer experienced his bodily suffering in the projection of Christ's torment on the cross. Thus, Uspensky's soteriological experience testifies to the unity of his life and creative efforts aimed at fighting sin and gaining holiness.

Populism in a society with an excess of challenges: the threat to democracy or the possibility of its correction?

The phenomenon of growing support for populist parties and relevant orientations among the world's population is usually defined as a threat to democracy, social unity, and civic activism. The psychological appeal of populist ideas is based on the human need for collective identity, social cohesion, categorization of social life, predictability and sense of security as well as moral absolutism and support for conspiracy theories. This leads to the spread of confrontational discourse in the public sphere, support for authoritarianism and deepening social cleavages. However, empirical researches show the ambiguous focus of populist orientations in support of anti-democratic ideas. In fact, citizens with populist orientations should not be unambiguously identified with voters of populist parties. Because of its mobilizing potential, populism can make the democratic process more inclusive, as people with populist orientations support deliberative forms of democracy. In some cases, populist mobilization become useful in emergencies, such as the overthrow of an authoritarian regime or resistance to the enemy during war. However, populism can be an obstacle in trying to reform state institutions, as the absolutization of simplistic forms of government and the propensity for authoritarianism common among populists block civic initiative.

Populism, Media and Elections in Zambia: The case of the Patriotic Front in the 2011 and 2016 elections

This paper interrogates the intermingling of populist politics and the media in Zambia. It analyses populist tendencies the country’s 2011 and 2016 presidential elections. The examination of the 2011 elections considers this coming together of populist Patriotic Front (PF) party figures and the media through the lens of The Post Newspaper, representing ‘old’ media. The 2016 elections examination focuses on alternative media, particularly looking at how the PF utilised popular music and social media, to communicate its populist ideas. The analysis shows that the PF, with and without their populist founder Michael Sata, managed to maintain close ties with the media for their political success. Later, they were willing to utilise and harness the potential of alternative media to meet their objectives in 2016. The paper however warns that the merging of media with populism is a danger that heavily compromises the ability of the media to serve the public as they should.

Political Divisions and Socio-Economic Disparities in Poland: A Geographical Approach

This article attempts to identify the relationship between the persistent polarisation of political opinions and diverse levels of social and economic development. The coexistence of these phenomena may indicate a barrier to inclusive economic development, which connects with the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development. A research aim was to test two hypotheses: Hypothesis 1 (H1)—The increase in the spatial disparity of political support in Poland is persistent; and Hypothesis 2 (H2)—The spatial distribution of support for specific political options shows significant correlations with the distribution of social and economic growth. The study involves the following research methods implementation: desk research, intensity indicators and regression analysis. The results confirmed the persistence of spatial divisions in political support, whose distribution reflects to a large extent the diverse levels of social and economic development that exist. Two axes dividing Poland are identified, one between west and east and the other between urban and rural areas. The article connects with the international debate regarding “places that don’t matter” and the reasons behind the growing popularity of populist ideas in society.

Political Crowdfunding and Campaigning on GoFundMe

Background: What does the Canadian use of GoFundMe tell us about the role of non-party campaigners in contemporary election campaigning? Analysis: Within the context of the 2019 Canadian federal election, this article examines how GoFundMe has been used as a platform for fundraising by fringe and populist political voices online. Conclusion and implications: The crowdfunding platform GoFundMe has been leveraged to meet political goals both within and outside of traditional, party-centred, political fundraising setups. The mobilization of GoFundMe’s crowdfunding tools in the 2019 federal election presented an opportune space for the financialization of political goals reflecting right-wing populist ideas.

Insurrectionary Populism? Assessing the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol

Abstract The attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 was extraordinary. Analysts and commentators quickly attributed the attack as having been motivated by “populism” without much nuance or recognition of the diversity of voices and attitudes embedded in the insurrection. This commentary assesses the populist ideas and attitudes expressed by the insurrectionists in an effort to understand why they felt drawn to Washington, D.C. that day, as well as why they felt their attack on the U.S. Capitol was legitimate. In so doing, it addresses the particular ways the insurrectionists framed and legitimated their attack (at least to themselves). The January 6 insurrection was an extraordinary attack on American democracy, but it was related to deep themes and elements of US political culture. Understanding those dynamics is crucial to preventing such attacks in the future.

Bringing the enemy closer to home: ‘conspiracy talk’ and the Norwegian far right

ABSTRACT What is the appeal of joining online communities obsessed with images of enemies and filled with threatening narratives? Døving and Emberland’s article introduces the term ‘conspiracy talk’ as a useful analytical concept for answering this question. The activities of radical and populist right-wing groups in Europe have increased in recent years; in particular, they use the Internet to propagate, discuss and enhance their ideological message. On Facebook and in comments on ‘alternative’ news sites, individuals share narratives about how an invasion of Muslims will lead to the imminent downfall of European civilization unless it is not rescued by the introduction of authoritarian, ethnic nationalism. The ideology of the far right is a growing field for research but there are few studies on how the ideology is spread and rendered meaningful via discussions and comments among Internet-based communities. This article, based on analyses of the content of various websites and Facebook pages that are part of the far-right landscape of Norway, seeks to explore the role conspiracy claims play in conversations taking place within these virtual communities. It attempts to identify patterns of communication and ways of talking that make conspiratorial notions seem reasonable. Døving and Emberland argue that radical-right and right-wing populist ideas are made relevant and gain a sense of immediacy through conspiracy talk. Conspiracy talk renders conspiracy narratives meaningful by linking them to the local contexts of the participants.

Introduction

Introduction

Many faces of the right-wing populism. Book review of ‘Right-wing populism: Global trend and regional features’ ed. by L.S. Okuneva, A.I. Tevdoi-Burmuli

The review examines a new collective monograph edited by L.S. Okuneva and A.I. Tevdoi-Burmuli: ‘Right-wing populism: Global trend and regional features’, published in 2020. The reviewer notes that a growing interest in both Russian and foreign academic community towards the phenomenon of populism has been witnessed in recent years. However, scholars still haven’t reached a consensus on the nature and content of this phenomenon, its role in the political systems of individual countries and regions, as well as on prospects for its further development. In this regard the book under review which provides a broad geographical and thematic perspective coverage is of particular relevance. At the same time, the reviewer notes that this very breadth provokes critical comments. For instance, the reviewer points to certain imbalances in the structure of the book, as well as some inconsistencies in the authors’ narratives. The latter may be related to the fact that the authors have widely differing approaches to the nature of populism. As a result, the book under review should be considered as a collection of essays united by a common theme rather than a collective monograph based on a common theoretical and methodological framework. However, this in no way downplays academic contribution of each individual author and the relevance of the book as a whole. The reviewer examines each chapter, briefly presenting the author’s position and the key findings, and concludes that the book in general contributes significantly to the academic study of the right-wing populism and raises new research questions. With regard to the latter, the book highlights both the ambiguity of populism, its immanent connection with modern trends in the development of political systems, and the social and psychological factors that contribute to the growing popularity of populist ideas.

Revisiting norms of citizenship in times of democratic change

Over the last two decades, scholars have investigated norms of citizenship by focussing primarily on ‘dutiful’ and ‘engaged’ norms. In the meantime, contemporary democracies have witnessed growing demands for more sustainable styles of living and increasing public support for authoritarian and populist ideas. These developments point to both a change and an expansion of conventional understandings and conceptions of what a ‘good citizen’ in a democratic polity ought to do. Specifically, they raise questions about whether demands for more sustainability and increasing support for populist ideas establish new facets of democratic citizenship, and if so, how they can be meaningfully incorporated into existing images of citizenship. This study provides a re-conceptualization of citizenship norms and empirically tests a new measurement instrument using original data collected in Germany in 2019. The empirical application of an expanded set of items demonstrates the existence of more variegated facets of norms of citizenship, including norms to safeguard a sustainable future and distinct populist facets emphasizing the relevance of trust in authorities and experts as well as reliance on feelings and emotions. Contemporary conceptions of citizenship thus go beyond conventional distinctions between dutiful and engaged norms of citizenship.