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Populism and Liberal Democracy is the first book to offer a comprehensive theory about populism during both its emergence and consolidation phases in three geographical regions: Europe, Latin America and the United States. Based on the detailed comparison of all significant cases of populist governments (including Argentina, Greece, Peru, Italy, Venezuela, Ecuador, Hungary, and the U.S.) and two cases of populist failure (Spain and Brazil), each of the
book's seven chapters addresses a specific question: What is populism? How to distinguish populists from non-populists? What causes populism? How and where does populism thrive? How do populists govern? Who is the populist voter? How does populism endanger democracy? If rising populism is a threat to liberal
democratic politics, as this book clearly shows, it is only by answering the questions it posits that populism may be resisted successfully.
List of contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Political Parties
- Introduction
- Part I: Populism In Theory
- 1: What is Populism?
- 1.1: The Epistemology of Populism
- 1.2: Dealing with Deficient Premises
- 1.3: The Minimal Definition
- 1.4: The Overall Framework of Analysis
- 2: How to Distinguish Populists from Non-Populists?
- 2.1: Understanding Liberalism
- 2.2: Why Populism Matters
- 2.3: Spotting the Populists
- 2.4: Telling Non-Populists Apart
- 3: What Causes Populism?
- 3.1: The "Ordinary" People
- 3.2: Extraordinary Leadership
- 3.3: Symbolic Politics
- 3.4: The Causal Model
- Part II: Populism In Action
- 4: How and Where does Populism Thrive?
- 4.1: Populism Ascendant: Seven Positive Cases
- 4.2: Populism Evaded: Two Negative Cases
- 4.3: New Kid in Town: United States 2016
- 5: How do Populists Govern?
- 5.1: Power Seizure
- 5.2: The Illiberal Project: A Rationalization
- 6: Who is the Populist Voter?
- 6.1: Inside the Populist Mind
- 6.2: An Empirical Illustration: Greece 2015
- 7: How Does Populism Endanger Democracy?
- 7.1: Populist Pathways
- 7.2: Populism Resisted
- Glossary of Key Terms
- Bibliography
- Index
About the author
Takis S. Pappas has a PhD from Yale University and is a comparative political science researcher and writer affiliated with the University of Helsinki, Finland. He is the author of Making Party Democracy in Greece (Macmillan,1999),Populism and Crisis Politics in Greece (Palgrave, 2014), and the co-editor of European Populism in the Shadow of the Great Recession (ECPR, 2015).
Summary
Populism and Liberal Democracy is the first book to offer a comprehensive theory about populism during both its emergence and consolidation phases in three geographical regions: Europe, Latin America, and the United States.
Additional text
In this interesting and important contribution to a crucial debate, Takis Pappas highlights through an impressively wide-ranging theoretical discussion the inherent threat that populism poses to liberal democracy. Then he demonstrates through an extensive investigation of crucial cases under what conditions populist leaders can achieve their nefarious goals. The conclusion is that liberal democracy faces a serious challenge, but is not defenseless.
Report
The subject of populism is now at the center of public concern in countries around the world, but scholarship on the subject is only beginning to catch up. Takis Pappas was one of the first social scientists to make a systematic effort to identify the essential characteristics of present-day populism and to distinguish it from related phenomena, a task he has carried out in a highly original and generally persuasive manner. His new book, which treats populism as synonymous with democratic illiberalism, demonstrates that he remains at the forefront of scholarship in this field. It will also be of interest to anyone concerned with the broader question of the relationship between liberalism and democracy. Marc F. Plattner, Journal of Democracy
