Populism: Recent developments and mainstreaming in Europe and Latin America

Abstract

The rise of populism in Europe and Latin America has been widely researched: from factors explaining voting behaviour and populist attitudes to the discursive, stylistic and ideological characteristics of populist parties and the role of crises, the literature has advanced remarkably in the last two decades. This also concerns the relationship between populism and liberal democracy. Especially the mainstreaming of populism – e.g., populist actors gaining access to power or the growth of populism in the political mainstream –can be considered as worrying from a normative perspective since populists in power often weaken liberal democratic principles such as the rule of law. Although populism research produces an incredible output of publications, there are current and recent political developments that require further scholarly attention. In recent presidential election in Latin America (Ecuador, Chile, Honduras, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Colombia, Mexico) populist discourses and actors were not only present but more alive than ever according to political observers. This was also reflected in electoral successes of populist candidates and while populism in Latin America is often considered to be “left”, authoritarian and ultra-conservative actors welcome a discourse on elites’ immoral behaviour to promote conservative views on the role of women, abortion and LGBTQI rights. In Europe, we are seeing the establishment of new populist actors in countries that previously seemed immune to the rise of populism such as Vox in Spain and Chega in Portugal. Populist radical right parties in Italy came to power (again). Also in Sweden, where the populist radical right has been excluded from power for many years, the center-right now relies on the support of the Sweden Democrats. The panel wants to draw attention to current populist developments, new populist actors and aspects of populist mainstreaming in Europe and Latin America. We are interested in the causes of new populist developments, forms of mainstreaming and on programmatic and discursive aspects such as: ▪️ Current programmatic and discursive behaviour of populist parties and candidates in different political arenas and platforms (parliament; social media; election manifestos) ▪️ Aspects and consequences of populist mainstreaming (e.g., behaviour in government; inclusion-moderation effects; consequences for democracy and responses from non-populist actors) ▪️ Attitudes of (populist) voters and individuals

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