In Absorbing the Blow: Populist Parties and their Impact on Parties and Party Systems, editors Steven Wolinetz and Andrej Zaslove bring together contributors to help understand the impact of populism upon different party systems across Europe. This is not only an important contribution to scholarship on populism, writes Toygar Sinan Baykan, but also a highly illustrative, up-to-date introduction to the contemporary politics of many European countries

Baykan, Toygar Sinan

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Book	Review	|	Absorbing	the	Blow:	Populist	Partiesand	their	Impact	on	Parties	and	Party	Systems	editedby	Steven	Wolinetz	and	Andrej	ZasloveIn	Absorbing	the	Blow:	Populist	Parties	and	their	Impact	on	Parties	and	Party	Systems,	editors	StevenWolinetz	and	Andrej	Zaslove	bring	together	contributors	to	help	understand	the	impact	of	populism	upon	differentparty	systems	across	Europe.	This	is	not	only	an	important	contribution	to	scholarship	on	populism,	writes	ToygarSinan	Baykan,	but	also	a	highly	illustrative,	up-to-date	introduction	to	the	contemporary	politics	of	many	Europeancountries.	Senator	Danilo	Toninelli,	Deputy	Prime	Minister	of	Italy	Luigi	Di	Maio	and	Italian	Minister	for	Health	Giulia	Grillo,	M5S,	2018.	Picture:Presidenza	della	Repubblica/Wikipedia	Public	DomainAbsorbing	the	Blow:	Populist	Parties	and	their	Impact	on	Parties	and	Party	Systems.	Steven	Wolinetz	andAndrej	Zaslove	(eds).	ECPR	Press.	2018.Political	theorist	Benjamin	Arditi	once	defined	populism	as	the	drunken	guest	at	adinner.	Following	the	surge	of	populism	across	Europe,	political	scientists	have	takena	long	time	to	understand	exactly	who	this	disruptive	guest	is.	Consequently,	sincethe	late	1990s,	the	literature	on	populism	has	been	dominated	by	the	question	ofwhat	defines	populism,	rather	than	why	it	emerges	and	what	kind	of	impact	it	has	ondemocracies	and	political	systems.	But,	in	recent	years,	we	have	witnessed	manysocial	scientists	searching	for	answers	to	these	vital	questions.	In	thisrespect,	Absorbing	the	Blow,	the	new	volume	edited	by	Steven	Wolinetz	and	AndrejZaslove,	can	be	considered	an	important	contribution	to	this	wave,	and	one	whichhelps	us	to	understand	the	impact	of	this	drunken	dinner	guest.In	Absorbing	the	Blow,	contributors	seek	to	understand	the	impact	of	populism	in	themore	established	and/or	consociational	democracies	of	Northern	and	WesternEurope	and	in	the	bipolar,	adversarial	and/or	less	institutionalised	party	systems	ofSouthern	and	Eastern	Europe.	Wolinetz	and	Zaslove	underline	that:party	systems	are	more	than	collections	of	parties.	Instead,	characterised	byregular	recurring	interactions,	they	embody	the	fraternal	relations	among	parties	that	regularly	worktogether	and	the	less-friendly	relations	among	others	that	do	not	cooperate	as	readily	or	often	(4).Democratic Audit: Book Review | Absorbing the Blow: Populist Parties and their Impact on Parties and Party Systems edited by Steven Wolinetz and AndrejZaslovePage 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2019-02-09Permalink: https://www.democraticaudit.com/2019/02/09/book-review-absorbing-the-blow-populist-parties-and-their-impact-on-parties-and-party-systems-edited-by-steven-wolinetz-and-andrej-zaslove/Blog homepage: https://www.democraticaudit.com/Embracing	the	ideational	approach	of	Cas	Mudde,	Wolinetz	and	Zaslove	define	populist	parties	as	those	that	relyon	‘thin-centred	ideologies	that	combine	a	Manichean	view	of	elites	who	are	deaf	to	what	the	people	really	wantwith	diverse	points	of	view’	(12).	Mudde’s	approach	to	populism	is	shared	by	other	contributors	to	the	volume.In	nine	chapters,	covering	the	cases	of	Austria,	the	Netherlands,	Switzerland,	Scandinavia,	Finland,	France,	Italy,Poland	and	Hungary,	the	volume	demonstrates	the	varying	impact	of	populist	parties	on	other	parties	and	on	partysystems	as	a	whole.	For	instance,	while	the	impact	of	populism	on	rather	more	well-established	party	systems	hasbeen	contained	due	to	resilient	consociational	arrangements,	as	the	Swiss	case	illustrates	(96),	in	countries	likeItaly,	the	rise	of	populism	has	entailed	much	more	dramatic	changes.In	a	highly	illustrative	chapter,	Bertjan	Verbeek,	Andrej	Zaslove	and	Matthijs	Rooduijn	not	only	analyse	the	impactof	populism	in	Italy,	but	also	demonstrate	the	transformation	of	the	Italian	party	system	since	the	Second	WorldWar.	A	major	issue,	which	cuts	across	all	of	the	volume’s	chapters,	appears	in	this	contribution	too:	is	populism	thereason	for	or	the	consequence	of	party	system	change?	In	the	Italian	case,	it	seems	that	populist	forces	such	asthe	political	parties	Lega	Nord	(Northern	League)	and	Silvio	Berlusconi’s	Forza	Italia	can	be	considered	responsesto	a	party	system	crisis,	or	to	the	demise	of	the	legitimacy	of	the	partitocrazia	in	Italy,	which	lasted	from	the	end	ofthe	Second	World	War	to	the	end	of	the	1980s.	Yet,	there	is	no	doubt	that	populist	forces	have	deeply	shaped	theparty	system	of	the	Second	Italian	Republic	through	imposing	their	agendas	on	mainstream	parties,	occupyingoffice	and	also	by	becoming	mainstream	parties	themselves	and	creating	their	own	populist	competitors	such	asM5S	(the	Five	Star	Movement).In	Poland,	too,	populism	has	had	a	huge	impact	on	parties	and	on	the	party	system	by	paving	the	way	forpolarisation	and	the	further	fragmentation	of	an	already	fragmented	party	system	and	by	driving	mainstream	partiessuch	as	the	Law	and	Justice	Party	(PiS)	in	a	more	populist	direction	(243-44).In	an	excellent	analysis	of	recent	Hungarian	politics,	Zsolt	Enyedi	and	Daniel	Rona	demonstrate	not	simply	theinfluence	of	populism,	but	also	its	centrality	in	the	formation	of	the	party	system	as	a	whole.	As	the	authors	indicate,for	example,	when	it	comes	to	the	role	of	Fidesz,	it	is	pointless	to	examine	this	party’s	influence	on	the	systembecause	it	is	so	large	and	central	to	it:	‘Fidesz	[…]	is	the	Hungarian	party	system’	(251).	And	another,	not	reallysmall	competitor,	Jobbik,	has	kept	influencing	Fidesz’s	agenda	since	it	became	a	significant	player	in	the	partysystem	in	2009.These	analyses	of	the	Hungarian	and	Italian	party	systems	in	fact	demonstrate	the	caveats	evident	in	some	of	thevolume’s	presuppositions.	As	Enyedi	and	Rona	highlight,	it	could	be	misleading	to	think	that	‘parties	can	becategorized	as	populist	and	non-populist’	and	that	‘populist	parties	are	not	identical	with	the	core	parties’	(251).	Thisis	a	problem	that	is	strongly	connected	to	the	definition	of	populism	embraced	by	the	volume.	The	ideationalapproach	to	populism	does	not	usually	lead	to	a	gradual	evaluation	that	can	allow	researchers	to	locate	partiesalong	a	scale	of	populism.	In	fact,	many	parties	today	adopt	populism	to	a	lesser	or	greater	extent,	and	it	isimportant	to	have	a	more	nuanced	view	of	populism	that	can	help	researchers	analyse	the	degree	of	populismembraced	by	the	parties	in	a	given	party	system.The	other	implication	of	the	ideational	approach	to	populism,	which	originally	stemmed	from	analysis	of	the	far	rightin	Europe,	is	that	it	leads	researchers	to	focus	on	right-wing	politics	more	than	those	of	the	left.	It	would	have	beenmuch	better	to	have	a	sub-title	for	the	book	which	emphasises	the	volume’s	emphasis	on	‘right-wing	politics	inEurope’,	since	it	contains	little	discussion	of	left-wing	populism	or	populism	in	other	regions	across	the	globe.The	appeal	of	this	volume	would	also	have	been	greatly	enhanced	had	a	discussion	of	cleavage	structuresaccompanied	all	chapters.	It	is	only	the	volume’s	last	chapter,	by	Wolinetz,	which	addresses	the	connectionsbetween	a)	the	increasing	significance	of	a	socio-cultural	divide;	b)	populism;	and	c)	the	change	in	the	partysystems:	‘Populist	parties	are	one	of	several	factors	that	shape	and	reshape	party	systems	but	not	necessarily	themost	important’	(308).	The	rise	of	the	‘socio-cultural’	divide	in	the	West,	separating	social	segments	holdingcosmopolitan,	green	and	libertarian	values	from	popular	sectors	with	local,	traditional	and	nativist	sensibilities,	couldhave	been	highlighted	more	thoroughly	in	the	volume.	Indeed,	it	would	seem	that	it	is	the	increasing	salience	ofthe	‘socio-cultural’	divide	that	has	facilitated	the	rise	of	populist	parties	and	the	party	system	change,	rather	thanvice	versa.Democratic Audit: Book Review | Absorbing the Blow: Populist Parties and their Impact on Parties and Party Systems edited by Steven Wolinetz and AndrejZaslovePage 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2019-02-09Permalink: https://www.democraticaudit.com/2019/02/09/book-review-absorbing-the-blow-populist-parties-and-their-impact-on-parties-and-party-systems-edited-by-steven-wolinetz-and-andrej-zaslove/Blog homepage: https://www.democraticaudit.com/Nevertheless,	Wolinetz	and	Zaslove’s	volume	not	only	represents	an	important	contribution	to	our	understanding	ofthe	impact	of	populism	on	European	party	systems,	but	it	is	also	a	highly	illustrative,	up-to-date	introduction	to	thecontemporary	politics	of	many	European	countries	for	scholars	of	comparative	politics	and	populism,	as	well	as	fora	broader	audience,	including	students,	policymakers	and	journalists.Note:	This	review	gives	the	views	of	the	author,	and	not	the	position	of	Democratic	Audit.	It	was	first	published	bythe	LSE	Review	of	Books	blog.Toygar	Sinan	Baykan	is	Assistant	Professor	of	Political	Science	and	Public	Administration	at	Kirklareli	University,Turkey.	He	attended	the	Middle	East	Technical	University	and	Universiteit	Leiden	for	his	postgraduate	studies	andhas	a	master’s	degree	in	comparative	politics	from	the	London	School	of	Economics	and	Political	Science.	Hereceived	his	PhD	degree	in	politics	from	the	University	of	Sussex,	with	his	dissertation	focusing	on	the	populismand	organisation	of	the	Justice	and	Development	Party	in	Turkey.	His	reviews	have	appeared	in	Party	Politics	andPolitical	Studies	Review.	He	is	the	author	of	The	Justice	and	Development	Party	in	Turkey:	Populism,	Personalism,Organization	(Cambridge	University	Press,	2018).	His	research	interests	include	party	politics,	comparative	politicsand	populism.	Similar	PostsBook	Review	|	The	Populist	Radical	Left	in	Europe	edited	by	Giorgios	Katsambekis	and	AlexandrosKioupkiolisThe	populists’	trap:	mainstream	responses	to	populist	new	parties	are	a	threat	to	democracyThe	new	political	divide	on	both	sides	of	Atlantic:	Populists	vs	cosmopolitansCovid-19	lockdowns:	early	evidence	suggests	political	support	and	trust	in	democracy	has	increasedBook	Review	|	Other	People’s	Politics:	Populism	to	Corbynism	by	J.A.	SmithDemocratic Audit: Book Review | Absorbing the Blow: Populist Parties and their Impact on Parties and Party Systems edited by Steven Wolinetz and AndrejZaslovePage 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2019-02-09Permalink: https://www.democraticaudit.com/2019/02/09/book-review-absorbing-the-blow-populist-parties-and-their-impact-on-parties-and-party-systems-edited-by-steven-wolinetz-and-andrej-zaslove/Blog homepage: https://www.democraticaudit.com/

Book review: Absorbing the blow: populist parties and their impact on parties and party systems edited by Steven Wolinetz and Andrej Zaslove

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Book review: Absorbing the blow: populist parties and their impact on parties and party systems edited by Steven Wolinetz and Andrej Zaslove

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