The Populist People vs The Other People: Effective Opposition to Populist Parties

This paper examines opposition to populist parties in Europe and develops a theory to evaluate the effectiveness of that opposition. It breaks new ground by developing a model of democratic defence as 'normal politics' able to account for opposition to populist parties as a routine activity using ordinary tools of law, politics and protest. In this way, the paper seeks to move debate about responses to populist parties beyond the tradition of militant democracy, which focuses on exceptional, rights-restricting forms of opposition such as party bans. Democratic defence as 'normal politics' involves a wider range of initiatives by civil society actors, political parties, states and international organisations across multiple, overlapping territorial spheres of governance. Forms of opposition range from international sanctions, litigation in state and supranational courts, mobilising institutional checks and balances constraining executive power, ostracism, stealing populist party policies, collaboration with populists, international monitoring, street protests and boycotts, and the demonisation and condemnation of populist parties in the public sphere. Conceiving democratic defence as 'normal politics' requires new tools for evaluating effective opposition to populist parties. Rather than the often normatively problematic and unrealistic goal of defeating populist parties wholesale, the book shows it is better to think of effectiveness as achieving less-ambitious, but still consequential goals – curbing illiberal and anti-democratic policies, reducing support for populist parties, diminishing their resources, and inducing moderation. These outcomes, and how they come about, are discussed in the paper, illustrated in cases including the Italian Five Star Movement, The League and Forza Italia, Alternative for Germany, the French National Rally (formerly National Front), Freedom Party of Austria, Podemos and Vox in Spain, Danish People’s Party, Finn’s Party, the Dutch Party for Freedom, SYRIZA in Greece, the Czech Action of Dissatisfied Citizens, the Polish Law and Justice Party, the Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria, Movement for a Better Hungary and Hungarian Civic Alliance (Fidesz).