Populist Research Articles

Bridging the Divide Between Structural and Actor-Oriented Explanations of Populism: A Research Agenda for the Study of Populist Euroscepticism Through a Territorial Perspective

This article explores the intersection of structural and actor-oriented explanations of populism through a territorial perspective, focusing on populist Euroscepticism. It builds on findings from the ‘Local Mobilisation Against the EU. Territorial Dimensions of Populist Euroscepticism’ (EULOC) project, which examined local drivers and manifestations of populism and Euroscepticism across Europe. The article highlights the importance of analysing both the supply and demand sides of populist Euroscepticism, emphasising the role of geographic inequalities, local socio-economic trajectories and collective identities. By integrating national, regional and local case studies, the article aims to bridge the divide between structural and actor-oriented approaches, offering a more comprehensive understanding of populist Euroscepticism. This approach seeks to prevent reductionist arguments and contributes to broader discussions on political participation, representation and the dynamics of populist movements in Europe. The article underscores the need for nuanced, multi-layered research that considers the unique socio-political dynamics of different regions and the impact of local contexts on the development of Eurosceptic sentiments.

Revisiting Erdoğan’s century of Turkey: unmasking populism’s political strategies through the Lens of the Canal Istanbul

ABSTRACT This study delves into the nuanced dynamics of populism in Turkish politics, focusing on the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) under the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Over the past two decades, we contend that the AKP’s policy proposals and projects have transcended mere political promises, instead evolving into meticulously planned physical embodiments of the party’s political dominance. Through an in-depth analysis of one of the AKP’s recent mega undertakings, the Canal Istanbul project, we unveil a strategic shift in the party’s populist tactics aimed at fortifying its political hegemony. Moreover, this paper sheds light on a covert process of polarization within the AKP’s apparent transition from a divisive approach to one centred on persuasion, particularly targeting the opponent political party, the CHP Republican People’s Party, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi. We posit that the AKP strategically positions itself as a victim of its adversaries, strategically laying the foundation for its persuasive agenda. This research offers critical insights into the multifaceted strategies employed by the AKP and CHP in navigating the complex terrain of populist politics in Turkey and furthers the empirical studies in the populism debate in general.

Exploring how to widen the acceptability of public health interventions: a systematic review protocol

IntroductionHealth interventions that require significant change to individual lifestyles or social norms can pose a challenge for widespread public acceptability and uptake. At the same time, over the last two...

Islamism and nationalism: how did old enemies become new allies?

AbstractHistorically, religion and nationalism were opposing forces in many countries. Recently, however, they began to converge as part of rising populist movements globally. In the Muslim world, the partnership between Islamists and nationalists has become evident in several important countries such as Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Malaysia. This merging of Islamism and populist nationalism in the last decade signifies a third period in the Muslim world, following the era of secularist domination (1920s–1970s) and the era of Islamization (1970s–2010s). Some Islamic conservatives might regard the unification of religious and nationalist forces as beneficial to their conservative agenda. Nonetheless, this comes at the high cost of discrimination against Muslim minorities in several countries, such as India, Israel, the United States, and France. Beyond Muslim-majority countries and Muslim minorities, the global trend of advancing a religious-nationalist agenda threatens minority rights. This trend poses a major challenge to democracy, equal citizenship, and minority rights worldwide.

Self-Imagining

While Western Europe’s visual cultural resistance to populism is often highlighted in both the media and academic studies, resistance to populism through artistic and cultural production is very seldom addressed in the academic studies dedicated to East-Central Europe. This does not mean that the cultural producers from the former East do not confront the surge of neo-populism in the region. How do artists understand and figure out cultural alternatives and resist right-wing populist politics and its culture in East-Central Europe? What are their strategies to react against ‘culturally popular’ formats and ethnoreligious nationalist culture in an age of generalised anxiety? This article focuses on alternative archives of visual art against populism, within which it addresses self-portraits, double-self-portraits, and multi-self-portraits understood as visual cultural productions that resist the pre-existing depictions of ‘the people’ – employed by the right-wing populist entrepreneurs – to polarise societies into friends versus enemies.

Populism and policy capacity: Evidence from an opposition municipality in Istanbul

AbstractDespite achievements in its conceptual rigor, policy capacity still represents a relatively depoliticized concept that fails to sufficiently consider the ways in which politics plays a role in its creation, mobilization, or decay. This article seeks to contribute to this debate by investigating the impact of populism on policy capacity, the type of policy capacity challenges posed and how they are related to populist policy design. Based on a case study of a municipality in Istanbul the article shows how populist politics and national populist policy design erode long‐term municipal policy capacity by enabling the (ab)use of the rule of law, loss of expertise, exhaustion of critical assets such as urban land and financial resources, and erosion of public citizenship due to growing expectations in the form of particularistic benefits. Declining policy capacity in turn leads to a shift in municipal policy priorities.

The Rise of Populism and Its Impact on Democratic Institutions: A Comparative Analysis of Global Trends

This article explores the rise of populism and its impact on democratic institutions through a comparative analysis of global trends, using a qualitative methodology based on literature review and library research. Populism, characterized by its anti-elite rhetoric and appeal to "the people," has gained significant traction across diverse political landscapes in recent years, affecting both mature and emerging democracies. The study examines the ways in which populist leaders and movements challenge key democratic principles, such as the separation of powers, judicial independence, and the integrity of the media. Drawing on case studies from various regions, including Europe, Latin America, and the United States, the research identifies common patterns in the populist approach to governance, particularly in the undermining of checks and balances and the erosion of institutional trust. Furthermore, this paper discusses how populism capitalizes on economic inequality, political disenfranchisement, and cultural tensions to gain popular support. The findings suggest that while populism poses significant risks to democratic institutions, its long-term impact varies depending on the strength and resilience of a country's legal and institutional framework. This study concludes with recommendations for safeguarding democratic governance in the face of rising populist movements, emphasizing the importance of reinforcing democratic norms, enhancing civic education, and ensuring institutional transparency.

Populism and Democracy: Analysis on the Phenomenon of Populism in Indonesia and the Crisis of Democracy

This article first discusses the phenomenon of populism in Indonesia which has the potential to pose a threat to the democratic system in Indonesia. Of course, this article was written as a response to the populist movement which has recently been hotly discussed because populism is growing rapidly in the social and political system in Indonesia. The intention of this article is to provide advice to the Indonesian people, to understand the phenomenon of populism which has transformed into a political weapon and maneuver by political actors, for the benefit of their political groups or parties. This article will use literature study to collect data and information to lead to a discussion and conclusion. The aim of this article is to examine the phenomenon of populism in Indonesia which has the potential to become a serious threat to the democratic system. Then to provide education to the Indonesian people regarding the populist movement which uses all kinds of methods or certain instruments to perpetuate their power as political actors.

‘Sympathy for the devil’: The strategic use of the populist repertoire in Viktor Orbán’s politics

Populist politicians such as Viktor Orbán are masters at harnessing intense and polarizing moral emotions: they stigmatize the enemies of the people, offer their community protection as self-proclaimed heroes, and at the same time, othering and moral transgressing trigger emotional overreactions from opponents. This article draws on a new analytical framework that incorporates theories of social labeling (moral panic and euphoria, moral entrepreneurship) and heroic/charismatic leadership to explore this multifaceted and antagonistic emotional relationship associated with populists. The theoretical reasoning suggests that these emotional dynamics define the moral cornerstones and boundaries of populist identity politics. Based on an analysis of four illustrative Hungarian cases – the migration crisis, anti-gender politics, the Authorisation Act during the coronavirus pandemic, and Fidesz’s expulsion from the European People’s Party – the article shows that populists can follow different paths to become charismatic heroes in the eyes of his supporters, while others still see them as folk devils due to their controversial moral entrepreneurship.

Understanding right-wing populists’ anti-abortion politics in Turkey: The symbolic violence of the state

This study investigates how symbolic violence is shaping anti-abortion stances associated with legitimising right-wing populist policies. The prominent questions are as follows: What are the institutional and politico-administrative mechanisms that are impacting anti-abortion politics in terms of material and symbolic violence? How and to what extent does anti-abortion politics influence the interplay between symbolic and material state violence? The study argues that reproduction-centred policies and material and symbolic violence have intensified through anti-abortion politics in the discursive context of the social reproduction crisis in Turkey. It explores the institutional actions and the legitimation mechanisms of anti-abortion policies in relation to the penetration of right-wing populist politics after the authoritarian turn of 2010. This qualitative case study uses critical discourse analysis. It interprets the public speeches of representatives of the government and documentary data concerning the ruling party’s programmes, development plans and relevant legislation. The research provides a gendered perspective on the anti-abortion policies that anchor right-wing populism in terms of the crisis of social reproduction. It also contributes to critical state theory and pre-existing feminist scholarship on right-wing populism.

Populism and the Erosion of Democratic Checks and Balances: A Systematic Literature Review across Regions

Populism has emerged as a significant challenge to democratic governance worldwide, as populist leaders seek to undermine checks and balances and consolidate power. This systematic literature review analyzes how populist movements weaken democratic institutions across different regions, focusing on the erosion of judicial independence, legislative oversight, media freedom, and human rights. This study examines case studies from Hungary, Turkey, Brazil, and the United States, revealing how populist leaders centralize authority, manipulate legal frameworks, and exploit societal grievances to sideline democratic norms. Populist rhetoric often frames democratic institutions as elitist and detached from the interests of the "true people," justifying actions that concentrate executive power and limit accountability. This impact extends beyond national borders and affects international law and global governance. In response, civil society, independent judiciaries, the media, academia, and international organizations play crucial roles in defending democratic values and building resilience against populist encroachment. Strategies such as enhancing legal protection, promoting civic education, strengthening oversight bodies, and reforming electoral systems are essential for countering populist threats. This study highlights the need for a multifaceted approach to address the root causes of populism's appeal and protect democratic institutions. Further research should explore how populists exploit digital media and the effectiveness of resistance strategies and conduct comparative analyses across regions to develop robust defenses against the erosion of democracy.

“Tax Amazon, Not Working People”: Left Populism and Labor Organizing in Seattle

Abstract This paper examines the role of labor and community left populist organizing in the Tax Amazon campaign based in Seattle, WA, USA. As a case study within a larger project that examines manifestations of both right-wing and left-wing populism in urban spaces, the paper presents a lens through which urban populism may be examined in relation to new forms of labor organizing, with a specific focus on the dynamics of left populist resistance. The Tax Amazon campaign is situated within a longer trajectory of contemporary left populist organizing in Seattle. Emerging from a previous campaign that resulted in Seattle City Council instituting a $15 minimum wage, the Tax Amazon campaign brought together labor and community organizations to pressure Seattle City Council to introduce a corporate tax to generate funding for affordable housing initiatives. The campaign was met with resistance from the local business community, as well as some local trade unions. Being a leading corporate figure in this opposition, Amazon emerged as a key target of the left populist campaign. Through this study, we ask, what role did labor-community coalitions play in shaping the emergence of a broader left populist politics at the municipal scale in Seattle? Building from the experience of the Tax Amazon campaign, the paper reflects on the dynamics of resistance to corporate power through labor- and community-based left populist organizing. Reflecting a shift in U.S. politics at the municipal scale, Seattle offers a key case through which to assess whether and how urban populism may give rise to new forms of labor organizing. The paper also considers the ways in which the simultaneity of the Tax Amazon campaign and the Movement for Black Lives to ‘Defund the Police’ expanded the scope of political demands in the context of Seattle’s racialized urban precarity. In its conclusion, the paper draws from the analysis to reflect on both the broader prospects and limitations of left populist organising.

How liberalism accommodates far-right social movements: on “mainstreaming” and the need for critical theory in far-right studies

Abstract Scholarship on social movements, racism, and nationalism increasingly falls under the purview of “extremism studies” and its subfield “far-right studies.” Prominent extremism scholars have developed generalist theories purportedly explaining far-right politics and power dynamics (or “mainstreaming”) across liberal societies. They define “far-right” as “illiberal” politics promoting dehumanization, exclusion, and inequality. Their theory of mainstreaming suggests that “the” far-right is a coherent entity that “enters” mainstream institutions or discourse from the outside. For these scholars, strengthening liberal-civic principles prevents far-right political power (mainstreaming). I call these approaches “grand theory templates,” which I critique for simplistic interpretations of power and for overlooking critical theory scholarship showing how liberalism accommodates far-right politics. Using the Canadian nationalist movement as a case study, I show how liberal chauvinism can be crucial to empowering right-wing populist movements. My data include over 40 hours of participant-observation at 20 right-wing events and 35 interviews with 42 current leaders and members of on-the-ground nationalist groups. Right-wing nationalists foregrounded liberal-civic ideas, such as “security,” “rights,” “objectivity,” and “tolerance,” to advance anti-Muslim sentiment and populist conspiracism. My findings suggest that far-right movements can gain power by embracing liberalism’s ambiguity and contradictions. In other words, mastering liberal messaging can be essential to the growth of far-right movements, challenging any easy dismissal of these politics as “illiberal.” Altogether, “top–down” grand theory templates oversimplify political distinctions and power, compromising research design and analysis. I advocate for more granular and “bottom–up” inductive approaches that prioritize sociological traditions over theories recently popularized by extremism scholars.

A practitioner-led research agenda for local government

ABSTRACT The last 50 years of local government studies have documented extraordinary changes: economic transformations, international democratisation, the digital revolution and the rise of the internet have transformed local government. Looking forward to the next 50 years: climate change, ageing populations, financial pressure, populist politics, will all come home to roost in the day-to-day work of local government. This paper makes the case for building a research agenda around the practical experiences of local policy practitioners. Using our experience from a series of interviews with over sixty local government chief executives, and the example of two research projects built around LGIU’s local authority members network in England, the paper describes the valuable opportunities that come from engaging with local government practitioners for developing and directing research.

From Legislator to Experts: The Decline of Intellectuals in Ravelstein

Anti-intellectualism is rooted in American historical tradition and has gradually become the most prominent social trend in American society. The rise of anti-intellectualism is also the process of changing the role of intellectuals. With the popularity of anti-intellectualism, authority possessed by intellectuals gradually weakened, not only authority over knowledge but also authority in power mechanism, which ultimately led to intellectuals constantly seeking role transformation. From the aspect of anti-intellectualism and role transformation of intellectuals, extreme egalitarianism inherent in anti-intellectualism and populist politics has expelled intellectuals from being legislators. After being legislators, intellectuals transformed into interpreters, but the interpreter was impacted by division among intellectuals and conflict between intellectuals and the public caused by anti-intellectualism. As anti-intellectualism intensified, intellectuals’ chosen role as experts was unable to cope with the overall anti-intellectual atmosphere of society. Based on Saul Bellow’s Ravelstein as a model, this paper will discuss how anti-intellectualism has affected the transformation of the role of intellectuals regarding social phenomena as well as the characters depicted in the novel.

More than mercy: towards a better affective compromise in the Catholic pastoral response to transness

ABSTRACT Pope Francis’ pastoral response to trans people represents a compromise between his negative-affective political stance towards transness, and his positive-affective theology of pastoral welcome. By reducing away transness to sickness or sin, he can welcome trans people as individuals in a depoliticized personal sphere apart from the political – at the cost of a reductive ‘domestication’ of trans people, and the reproduction of right-wing populist politics evoked by his own negative-affective political transphobia. This paper argues for a better compromise, which enables positive-affective attitudes specifically in and amidst negative-affect, enabling trans people to be welcomed without reduction. It does this by reading Francis as championing a utopianism similar to that of José Esteban Muñoz. It argues that his recovery of a Franciscan ethic of self-subjection gestures towards an unimagined relationality in which trans people can be welcomed amidst the tensions of the present, and against theopolitical transphobia.

Spicebags, slippery masks and ‘Free Staters’: anti-republican anti-populism in contemporary Irish political discourse

ABSTRACT This article critically interrogates how in contemporary Irish political discourse anti-populism, specifically anti-left populism, is articulated as a form of anti-republicanism. This is large part due to the histories of anti-colonial republicanism in Ireland and the popular republican grammar they have bequeathed to contemporary political discourse. This thematic of (anti)populist politics is of renewed interest and urgency given the recent surge in popularity of Sinn Féin, a broadly left-wing republican populist party. This article adopts a discourse analytical method and identifies several key tropes of anti-republican anti-populism that centre largely around the framing of Sinn Féin as a non-normative or not-normal political party, given its historical connection to paramilitarism. Other key themes of anti-republican anti-populism include the politics of housing, policing and the nature of democratic representation. What emerges is a picture of Irish republicanism as a spectral remainder of past political struggles against colonial order and political exclusion. As such, republican politics bring into view the contingency of established order and reveals the fragile nature of political legitimacy in post-partition Ireland. This article concludes by commenting on what the Irish postcolony reveals about the nature of anti-populisms in Europe and its peripheries.

Masterminded Choreographies

Austrian political culture is rooted in counter-reformation, in a specific Catholic-baroque theatricality. With its marches, parades, pageants, Dionysian art and populist politics, a very distinctive form of showmanship or staging already characterised the last decades of the Habsburg Monarchy. After 1918, the new republic picked up this thread—with less of the ‘Dionysian’ at the fore than the more sublime and solemn. From the mid-1920s onwards, all political camps focused on involving masses in their political manifestations, thus the structured amorphous crowds involved participants marching in rank and file and in military attire and unified mass bodies engaged in choreographed movement, forming images (and messages). However, the authors and organisers of such events often seemed to be more impressed by these performances than the audience or even the participants themselves. Although the ‘mass’ in contemporary phrasing was a ‘feeling’, an ‘experience’, or an ‘emotion’, it still had to be controlled: stadiums and arenas became architectural means of social control, accompanied by a plethora of security and policing measures. But with the advent of new media, the crowd organised itself differently and anew. As a result, both the social democratic, pan-German and Christian-conservative mass festivals in the late 1920s and early 1930s and the staged Austrofascist ‘Tributes to the Youth’ after 1934 quickly lost their appeal, while their audiovisual reproduction in radio or newsreels had no effect either. Even enormous logistical efforts and bureaucratic pressure could not prevent the mass stagings from becoming outdated.

Transnationalism and Populist Networks in a Digital Era: Canada and the Freedom Convoy

Abstracts The growth and success of right-wing populist movements globally has been remarkable since the early 2010s. Indeed, populist parties in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and North America have received tremendous electoral success, shaping a movement for the people and by the people within the political sphere. To what extent do populist movements influence other such programs across national borders? Research has suggested that globalization has facilitated the spread of populist ideology. Transnational populism emphasizes the “people” as a “horizontal, membership-based collective with membership premised on an in/out logic between nations, allowing populist national movements to engage and share a global ideological program. This paper seeks to understand and measure to what extent populism has become a transnational movement and identify how populism moves across national borders through online political participation. To explore this question, we collected over 6.7 million digital trace data on X/Twitter during Canada’s January–February 2022 Freedom Convoy movement. Receiving support from thousands of citizens, the Freedom Convoy revealed the ability of populist ideology to move aimlessly across international borders. We used a deep-learning model applied to text analysis to implement a classification task to measure populist narratives during the movement.

Humour from the Right: Authoritarian populism and ‘punching down’ laughter in India

This paper examines India’s authoritarian populist politics through a study of humorous speeches made by the nation’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, known for his Hindu supremacist right-wing stance. It qualitatively analyses Modi’s strategic use of humour that targets marginalised groups, including intellectuals, women, people with disabilities, and the Muslim community. The act of suicide and the state of widowhood have also been targets. By employing textual analysis of specific jokes and insults delivered by Modi in public forums, the study demonstrates how carnivalesque speech is used to ‘punch down’ on individuals and groups based on their identity. The paper draws a comparison with Donald Trump’s use of similar humour, noting how both leaders utilise it to destabilise their opposition and mock minorities. Using Mikhail Bakhtin’s carnival theory as a lens, which originally posits a democratic and inclusive potential to subvert power, the study argues that the ‘inverted carnival’ employed by leaders like Modi and Trump serves to consolidate power and undermine minority rights. This research introduces the concept of ‘inverted carnival’ as a new framework for analysing the use of humour in authoritarian populist governance globally.