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Populism

November 27, 2025

🔮 Populist publics are becoming increasingly transnational

Francesco Vittonetto Brought together by a shared ideology, converging around global events, and united in their support for radical-right leaders, populist audiences on social media are becoming increasingly global. Francesco Vittonetto discusses why we can now start talking about transnational populist publics  Read more
November 20, 2025

🌊 The nature of fascism and why it differs from populism

Paul D. Kenny People are talking more and more about fascism, and often confusing it with populism. Paul D. Kenny argues that we need to understand how fascism stands out. It has never been just a matter of words or beliefs. It is a leader-centred cult that uses violence to eliminate opposition Read more
November 13, 2025

🔮 Banana populism: when politics gets absurd (and why it works)

Ilana Hartikainen Why did Viktor Orbán bring pickles to Parliament? What made Kamala Harris lean into 'brat summer'? And why do politicians flood social media with pets, food, and everyday objects? Ilana Hartikainen and Zea Szebeni argue these aren't random quirks: they're examples of 'banana populism', where politicians build powerful emotional connections with voters through whimsical, mundane imagery Read more
October 21, 2025

Rising inequality is driving Europe's far-right surge

Lucas Sudbrack Lucas Sudbrack and James F. Downes describe how growing income inequality across Europe has strengthened support for far-right parties. Using decades of national and individual-level data, they find that when the poorest citizens lose a significant share of national income, far-right vote shares rise Read more
October 10, 2025

Is the 'Remigration and Reconquest' committee a turning point for Italy's extreme right? 

Federico Taddei On 6 September 2025, the Italian extreme right sealed a new pact. At a national congress, CasaPound Italia, Patriots’ Network (a Forza Nuova splinter), Veneto Skinhead Front, and Brescia to Bresciani launched the committee they call Remigration and Reconquest. Federico Taddei argues its launch could mark a turning point in Italy’s extreme-right galaxy  Read more
September 17, 2025

More women, multipartism, and far-right populism — is Japan becoming more 'European'?

Robert Nordström Has Japan really swung to the right? Robert Nordström explores how the collapse of one-party dominance has fuelled European-style populism — and opened the door to wider social change Read more
August 5, 2025

Hard right, far right, or just wrong? Why terminology matters

Federico Taddei Linguistic precision matters, but the term 'hard right' isn’t the real threat to clarity. Federico Taddei argues that the real problem lies in how journalists and scholars misuse or oversimplify the categories political science has worked long and hard to define Read more
August 4, 2025

How populist messaging becomes contagious 

Vlad Surdea-Hernea Political parties are increasingly adopting populist appeals, not necessarily because of ideological realignments, but out of a desire to mimic the successful strategies of their competitors. Vlad Surdea-Hernea reveals how anti-elite messaging is spreading like a virus across European democracies, reshaping political discourse as parties emulate populist tactics  Read more

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Advancing Political Science
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