Analysing Populism through Party Manifestos and Political Speeches

Abstract

Populist parties represent a wide variety of different ideological stances, and the field of populism researchers define their object of study in numerous different yet interrelated ways. Mirroring the field, this panel takes a theoretically and methodologically varied approach at analyzing different populist leaders and parties across the globe. The first paper will focus on Viktor Orbán’s changing discursive construction of crisis and how he uses that to maintain power in Hungary. Next we move to India, where Narendra Modi’s speeches will be submitted to investigation in order to characterize his populist style. The third paper will turn to Belgium and the Netherlands to explore the politics of solidarity and resentment as a way of differentiating right wing populist parties from the rest of the field. Finally, the last paper will delve into the changing position of LGBT+ in right wing populist discourse, developing a typology of such parties based on their approaches to the topic.