Alexander Langenkamp
Alexander Langenkamp and Simon Bienstman argue that populist parties appeal strongly to citizens who feel vulnerable and discontented in ways that may be more than just political. This is an important explanatory factor of the electoral success of populist parties as a symptom of 'protest at the ballot box' Read more
Christian F. Rostbøll
We often hear that populist parties offer recognition and make people feel better about themselves. This sounds very innocent. So why does populism often turn into a threat to a pluralist and respectful democracy? Christian F. Rostbøll argues that it is exactly because of the way populism recognises the people Read more
Yaoyao Dai
Populist parties and candidates have been gaining electoral support around the world. Yaoyao Dai cautions readers that this electoral success is not necessarily due to populism, and urges scholars to disentangle populism from its host ideologies. Empirically, populism alone has limited effects in attracting votes Read more
Kostiantyn Yanchenko
Narrative approaches are currently experiencing a golden age in many domains of political science. And yet, when it comes to populism studies, scholars are still rather reluctant to adopt a narrative perspective. Kostiantyn Yanchenko explains why studying populist storytelling can be beneficial for the discipline Read more
Paul D. Kenny
Scholars and pundits – few of whom are populist supporters themselves – like nothing more than to point out the seeming foolishness of populism. However, Paul Kenny argues, there is also frequently a rational explanation behind their choices. Populist voters may be a lot of things, but they are not irrational Read more
Luca Versteegen
Luca Versteegen argues that specific emotions like nostalgia are not limited to populist radical right voters. We should therefore be more careful in ascribing emotions to this group, differentiating emotions and refraining from broad ascriptions like the so-called ‘left behind’ Read more
Sorina Soare
Sorina Soare rebuts the commonly held idea that all populist parties are unstructured organisations, exclusively dependent on their leaders’ communication skills. In Romania, through initiatives such as the creation of a mobile hospital, the populist party has been able to forge stable territorial linkages with diverse groups of voters Read more
Maurits Meijers
Maurits Meijers and Andrej Zaslove address the ‘myth’ that populist beliefs among citizens are harmful for liberal democracy. Using insights from recent research, they argue that highly populist citizens are not more likely than other citizens to reject the principles of liberal democracy Read more
The Loop
Cutting-edge analysis showcasing the work of the political science discipline at its best.
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