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Recent years have seen a disturbing advance in populist and authoritarian styles of rule and, in response, a rise in popular activism. Strongmen, especially since the advent of fascism, have formed their base of power in popular acclaim. But what power do the people have in checking the rise of tyranny? In this book an international team of experts representing several academic disciplines examines the power relationship between peoples and their rulers. It is among the first to study this globally as a problem of nation states. From populism in 19th-century Latin America to eastern Europe since the collapse of communism, to the Arab Spring and contemporary Russia and China, the cases in this book span five continents and twelve nations. Taken together, they reveal how different forms of popular opposition have succeeded or failed in unseating authoritarian regimes and expose the tactics and strategies used by regimes to repress people power and create an image of popular support. Analysing the causes and consequence of the global advance of authoritarianism, The Power of Populism and the People offers a historical comparison of popular protest, opposition and crises over the last century to the recent rise of populist leaders.
List of contents
1. Civil Resistance versus Authoritarian Rule: The Arab Spring and other Cases, Adam Roberts
2. Civil Society as a Threat to Democracy, Grzegorz Ekiert
3. The Arab Uprisings and People's Power: Romantic Views and Hard Realities, Marina Ottaway
4. 'Maidans' and Movements: Legacies, Innovations, and Contention in Independent Ukraine, Olga Onuch
5. Paradoxes of Reform: Protest, Progress, and Polarization in Malaysia, Meredith L. Weiss
6. People Power in Putin's Russia: Social vs. Political Protests, Laura A. Henry
7. How the Party-State Harnessed People Power in China, Diana Fu
8. Caught between Kemalist and Islamist Authoritarianisms: The Masses as Auxiliary Power in Turkey, 1923 to Present, Azat Gundogan
9. 1989 Inverted: Transformative Authoritarian Memory and the Rise of Populism in Poland and Hungary, Michael Bernhard
10. Protesting Democracy in Africa: Popular Movements and Political Transformation, Zachariah Mampilly
11. Populism in Latin America as Global History, Federico Finchelstein
12. Why Trump Is Not the Problem, Andrew J. Bacevich
About the author
Nathan Stoltzfus is Dorothy and Jonathan Rintels Professor of Holocaust Studies and Professor of History at Florida State University. An expert in political violence and resistance, Modern Europe and the Holocaust, his published books include
Hitler's Compromises: Coercion and Consensus in Nazi Germany (2016) and
Courageous Resistance: The Power of Ordinary People (2007).
Christopher Osmar, PhD, is preparing his dissertation on forced labor in the end phase of Nazi Germany for a book.
