Economic Crises and the Rise of Populism

Abstract

Economic turmoil has often been connected with the rise of populist political movements and parties. Unemployment and other personal and social consequences of economic crises have been found to favor vote for extreme-right parties and participation in populist movements. However, this is not a universal implication of economic downturns: even within the current European crsis we find a great deal of variation in terms of the rise of such parties and movements, across and within countries. Therefore, we are interested in understanding under what conditions do economic crises breed populism. The panel welcomes comparative research focused on the contextual and invididual factors that condition this relationship, as well as case-studies that provide insights on the causal mechanisms that link crises with increased support for extreme right and populist parties and movements.