Populism

Piergiuseppe Fortunato, Tanmay Singh, and Marco Pecoraro research the behavior of populist leaders and parties around the world and how their policies influence subsequent government spending. Their research shows that populists from either side of the ideological spectrum have very little in common in terms of policy despite similar anti-elite rhetoric.

Rodrigo Castro Cornejo discusses the reasons for the rise of left-wing populism in Mexico under Andrés Manuel López Obrador, how López Obrador’s administration has changed Mexico’s political economy in his six years in office, and what this means for the future of populism in Mexico as voters head to the polls on June 2.

Richard Oestreicher explores the recent history of left-wing populism in the United States: its origins, its motivations, and how that populism is likely to mature and transform U.S. politics with it.

George Hawley explores the economic impulses behind parts of the Republican Party’s populist turn and what this means for the GOP going forward.

James Wood explores the sources of populism in the United Kingdom, its recent developments, and what this means for the country’s 2024 general election.

Davide Vampa explores the sources of populism in Italy, its recent developments, and what this means for the country’s 2024 European Parliament election.

Knut Bergmann and Matthias Diermeier discuss the economic origins and developments of Germany’s right-wing Alternative for Germany party and how the party’s rise reflects, in part, voters’ concerns that mainstream parties are failing to protect the future of Germany’s vibrant manufacturing sector.

Louise Tillin explores the sources of populism in India, its recent developments, and what this means for the country’s 2024 general election, which begins April 19 and ends June 1.

Expert civil servants devise ever more sophisticated policies to tackle emergencies such as climate change. But when voters lose faith in experts, they vote for anti-elite populist leaders who promise to drain the swamp in the civil service. Gabriele Gratton and Barton E. Lee write that understanding populist voters’ calculations and mistrust is key to designing democratic institutions that can address the most pressing challenges of our times.

In new research, Cyril Hédoin and Alexandre Chirat use the rational-choice theory of economist Anthony Downs to explain how populism rationally arises to challenge established institutions of liberal democracy.