Populism is a central concept in the current media debates about politics and elections. However, like most political buzzwords, the term often floats from one meaning to another, and both social scientists and journalists use it to denote diverse phenomena. What is populism really? Who are the populist leaders? And what is the relationship between populism and democracy? This book answers these questions in a simple and persuasive way, offering a swift guide to populism in theory and practice. Cas Mudde and Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser present populism as an ideology that divides society into two antagonistic camps, the "pure people" versus the "corrupt elite," and that privileges the general will of the people above all else. They illustrate the practical power of this ideology through a survey of representative populist movements of the modern era: European right-wing parties, left-wing presidents in Latin America, and the Tea Party movement in the United States. The authors delve into the ambivalent personalities of charismatic populist leaders such as Juan Domingo Péron, H. Ross Perot, Jean-Marie le Pen, Silvio Berlusconi, and Hugo Chávez. If the strong male leader embodies the mainstream form of populism, many resolute women, such as Eva Péron, Pauline Hanson, and Sarah Palin, have also succeeded in building a populist status, often by exploiting gendered notions of society. Although populism is ultimately part of democracy, populist movements constitute an increasing challenge to democratic politics. Comparing political trends across different countries, this compelling book debates what the long-term consequences of this challenge could be, as it turns the spotlight on the bewildering effect of populism on today's political and social life.

Authoritarian populist parties have advanced in many countries, and entered government in states as diverse as Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Switzerland. Even small parties can still shift the policy agenda, as demonstrated by UKIP's role in catalyzing Brexit. Drawing on new evidence, this book advances a general theory why the silent revolution in values triggered a backlash fuelling support for authoritarian-populist parties and leaders in the US and Europe. The conclusion highlights the dangers of this development and what could be done to mitigate the risks to liberal democracy.

"Populism, a political movement with anti-elite, authoritarian and nativist tendencies, typically spearheaded by a charismatic leader, is an old phenomenon but also a very new and disturbing one at that. The Populist Temptation is an effort to understand the wellsprings of populist movements and why the threat they pose to mainstream political parties and pluralistic democracy has been more successfully contained in some cases than others"--

This timely book offers an in-depth analysis of the intersection between populism and corruption, addressing phenomena that have been, so far, largely treated separately. Bringing together two dynamic and well-established fields of study, it proposes a theoretical framework for the study of populism and corruption in order to update our understanding of specific forms of each in a variety of socio-political settings.

Providing a comparative analysis of Central and Eastern European economies, this book explores the economic impacts of populism in those countries in the region which have seen some form of populist rule. Populism has been thriving in the new member states of the EU ever since the outburst of the global financial and economic crisis, but unlike the cases of Latin America, Brexit or the Trump administration, the emphasis has not been on trade protectionism or unsustainable macroeconomic policies in these countries. This book demonstrates that studying macroeconomic variables such as fiscal balance or current account positions cannot tell the whole story of the economic consequences of populism. Instead, a more nuanced scrutiny of who gets what under populist rule is required. Adopting the ideational definition of populism, the volume shows that Central and Eastern European populists have heavily reshaped redistributive policies; yet, they have not neglected the budget constraint of the general government. Instead, there has been a tendency to disregard the institutional constraints of decision-making in the economy and, in turn, to redefine the regulatory framework and property rights structure of the respective economies. This innovative edited volume will be of interest to readers in political economy and political science who wish to better understand the impacts of populism.

This handbook assesses the phenomenon of populism—a concept frequently belabored, but often misunderstood in politics. Rising populism presents one of the great challenges for liberal democracies, but despite the large body of research, the larger picture remains elusive. This volume seeks to understand the causes and workings of modern-day populism, and plumb the depths of the fears and frustrations of people who have forsaken established parties. Although the main focus of this volume is political science, there are more disciplines represented in order to get a whole picture of the debate. It is comprised of strong empirical and theoretical papers that also bear social relevance.

The rise of populism is usually attributed by commentators to either income inequality or culture wars. We are witnessing, they argue, either the displaced anger of the 99% or the revenge of the ‘deplorables’ against the ‘liberal elite’. They are wrong. In this forensic book, Eric Protzer and Paul Summerville argue that populism is actually a response to a profound sense that many of the world’s leading economies are unfair. They show that in meritocratic countries, such as Australia, Canada, Portugal, and Japan, populism has not taken root. In contrast, the countries that have been hit by the worst populist upheavals - like the US, UK, France, and Italy – have low social mobility. The way to address populism is to restore the connection between contribution and reward and craft a politics that reclaims the reasonable grievances that drive populism while discarding its false diagnoses and toxic ‘solutions’. Reclaiming Populism is a must-read for policy-makers, scholars and citizens who want to understand the crises of our age and bring disenchanted populist voters back into the fold of liberal democracy.