Are Populist Governments Detrimental to Individual and Minority Rights in Europe?

Populism is widely considered to be a threat to democracy, yet a closer examination of populist actors in Europe reveals a more complex picture. Populists who have come to power in Hungary and Poland seem to pose much greater dangers to liberal democratic institutions than populists in government in other countries such as Switzerland, where the far-right Swiss People’s Party has been included in all but one of the governments since 1990. This comparative study aims to establish what effect populist actors in government have had on individual civil and minority rights, according to the Varieties of Democracy and Democracy Barometer indices, from 1998 to 2018 in 30 European states. Taking the percentage of populist MPs in government and opposition, along with the number of overall populist parties in parliament and the left-right party orientation of populist parties in government into account, this study aims to discover when populist governments tend to be most detrimental to individual civil liberties. The role of constitutional structures and veto players will also be examined. Preliminary results reveal that of all 242 governments in the 30 European countries that have served for more than six months from 1998 to 2018, 9 (3.8%) were comprised entirely of populist parties, 34 (14.2%) included at least one populist party, and the remaining 196 (82.0%) did not include any populist parties. Approximately 18% of all governments which were formed and dissolved between 1998 and the end of 2018 included actors associated with at least one populist party. The results will generate a database and provide a foundation for future research by sharpening our view of populist actors in government and how they relate to liberal democracy. This database may be used by future researchers to study various aspects related to the consequences of populism in government.