Frederik Henriksen
Frederik Henriksen analyses anti-systemic, populist movements during the Covid-19 pandemic. Here, he explains how these movements rely on alternative news media to establish their own digital information bubbles, and shows how ideological partisanship evolved in these environments Read more
Marie-Isabel Theuwis
Populist attitudes are responsive to perceived improvements in the democratic system. Marie-Isabel Theuwis and Rosa Kindt argue that this makes them a useful means to measure democratic quality Read more
Niels Nyholt
Niels Nyholt argues that voters’ everyday experiences with political decisions can substantiate populist parties' anti-elitist arguments. When mainstream politicians accommodate changes in settlement patterns by merging schools and hospitals, some communities are left without nearby services. Here, right-wing populist parties offer an electoral outlet for residents feeling left behind Read more
Lone Sorensen
Lone Sorensen argues we should pay close attention to political communication in the study of populism. Particularly important is how populist ideology and performance interact in the creation of meaning, how populists adapt their communications to various media, and how they talk about political communication as a democratic deficit Read more
Andrea Ceron
Analysing posts on Facebook and Twitter-X, Andrea Ceron, Silvia Decadri, and Fedra Negri highlight how Italian politicians use populist rhetoric to generate engagement. They find that such rhetoric does indeed increase the likelihood of posts going viral, even among non-populist voters Read more
Giorgos Venizelos
'Populism' and 'power' have an uneasy relationship. Key texts reveal three assumptions about populism's 'fate' in power: first, it becomes mainstream; second, it turns authoritarian; third, it fails/succeeds to implement policies. Giorgos Venizelos argues we must look beyond the myths about populism's content or outcomes, and turn instead to populism's function of constructing collective identities through discursive / affective performativity Read more
Clara Juarez Miro
Supporters of populist parties endorse rhetoric that antagonises the press, yet they are also avid consumers of news. Clara Juarez Miro explores populist supporters' paradoxical relationship with journalism. Her research shows how central are emotion and social identities to populist supporters’ worldviews – and this shapes their perspectives on journalism Read more
Donatella Bonansinga
Is populism ‘emotional’ and mainstream politics ‘rational’? Donatella Bonansinga argues that the divide between rationality and emotionality is rooted in cultural misperceptions, and all politics can be ‘emotional’. Populism is peculiarly emotional, because it taps in to very specific affective states, with key differences between left and right Read more
