Populism in world politics: a comparative cross-regional perspective

Populism has become more salient in multiple regions in the world, in developed as well as developing countries. Today it is largely a reaction to social dislocations tied to processes of neoliberal globalisation. As a concept, populism has had a long and contentious history. We suggest that populism has been on the rise alongside new imaginings of what constitutes the ‘people’ and ‘elites’, as the meanings attached to these labels are continually reshaped in conjunction with new social conflicts. These conflicts are intensifying across the globe together with new kinds of social marginalisation, precarious existence and disenchantment with the broken promises of liberal modernity. The article introduces a special issue on Populism in World Politics that seeks to understand general processes involved in the emergence of populist politics along with specific circumstances that affect how it is expressed in terms of identity politics, political strategies and shifting social bases

Modern American populism: Analyzing the economics behind the Silent Majority, the Tea Party and Trumpism

This article researches populism, more specifically, Modern American Populism (MAP), constructed of white, rural, and economically oppressed reactionarianism, which was borne out of the political upheaval of the 1960’s Civil Rights movement. The research looks to explain the causes of populism and what leads voters to support populist movements and politicians. The research focuses on economic anxiety as the main cause but also examines an alternative theory of racial resentment. In an effort to answer the question, what causes populist movements and motivations, I apply a research approach that utilizes qualitative and quantitative methods. There is an examination of literature that defines populism, its causes and a detailed discussion of the case studies, including the 1972 election of Richard Nixon; the Tea Party election of 2010; and the 2016 election of Donald Trump. In addition, statistical data analysis was run using American National Election Studies (ANES) surveys associated with each specific case study. These case studies were chosen because they most represent forms of populist movements in modern American history. While ample qualitative evidence suggested support for the hypothesis that economic anxiety is a necessary condition for populist voting patterns that elected Nixon, the Tea Party and Trump, the statistical data only supported the hypothesis in two cases, 2010 and 2016, with 1972 coming back inconclusive. The data also suggested that both economic anxiety and racial resentment played a role in 2010 and 2016, while having no significant effect in 1972 in either case. This suggests that further research needs to be conducted into additional populist case studies, as well as an examination into the role economic anxiety and economic crises play on racial resentment and racially motivated voting behavior

The Real World of Civic Republicanism: Making Democracy Work in Poland and the Czech Republic

The literature on transition and consolidation contains both optimists and pessimists concerning the prospects for successful democratic consolidation in Central and East European post-communist societies, and the matter is complicated by dispute over what constitutes 'success'. We can side-step this last issue by treating success in dynamic terms: As the capacity for continuation of the open-ended project which constitutes democratisation but which is also central to the very notion of democracy itself. The civic and republican discourses we have found in Poland and the Czech Republic constitute substantial discursive resources to help them further this project. These discourses reveal major continuities with the political traditions of the two countries. There is no need to suspect them of harbouring latent anti-democratic sentiments, or to shun them in favour of a universal discourse of minimal liberal democracy that can see successful consolidated politics only in terms of the pursuit of material interests expressed in party politics and elections. When it comes to democratisation, one size does not fit all; what democracy means in particular places depends to a considerable extent on the prevailing constellation of discourses, as well as the configuration of constitutional and material circumstances.</p