Contemporary Debates on Populism and Polarised Political Behavior

Contemporary debates on populism and polarised political behavior Chair Dr. Robert A. Huber, University of Salzburg, robertalexander.huber@sbg.ac.at Co-Chairs Dr. Michael Jankowski, University of Oldenburg, michael.jankowski@uol.de Christina-Marie Juen, University of Oldenburg, christina-marie.juen@uol.de Abstract The widespread success of populist parties in many parts of the world has stipulated new research on explanations of populism and its consequences for political behavior. These developments allow to reasonably identify “populism vs. non-populism” as a new cleavage which structures party competition and also voter behavior in many democracies. However, many open questions remain to be addressed or require further discussion. Therefore, this section invites contributions that provide new theoretical and/or empirical insights regarding the question of how populism affects political behavior, broadly defined. There is no regional or methodological focus for paper and panel proposals, but we prefer comparative approaches over single case studies. Papers using innovative (quantitative or qualitative) research designs are particularly welcomed. Panel 1: Populism and Liberal Democracy While initial research either argued that populism is good or bad for democracy, the literature converged to a more nuanced picture suggesting that populism is both corrective and threat. The central question of this literature is when and under which circumstances do populist actors unfold positive and/or negative effects. Initial analyses emphasize the role of government participation as well as populists’ political ideology. Additionally, some functions of democracy have received more attention than others. Scholars have been particularly focused on institutional changes (like mutual constraints) due to populist governance and their impact on policies in the realm of immigration. More recently, researchers started investigating the relationship between populism and political representation which is crucial to liberal democracy. Beyond the party level, this discussion has relevance for citizens’ attitudes to democracy. Do populist citizens oppose (liberal) democracy? Do they react to populists’ rhetoric? Do populist citizens feel represented by parties at all? Or is the impact of populism fueling citizens’ discontent with political representation? In this panel, we invite papers assessing the nexus of populism and (liberal) democracy. Papers may address this phenomenon on various levels, ranging from parties to citizens and in different regions. Panel 2: Populism and Party Competition Populist parties have become established actors in many party systems. In some cases, such as the US, Italy or Austria, populist parties are even in control of the executive. Therefore, this panel asks whether and how populist parties, and particularly parties from the radical-right, have changed the structure of party systems in many countries. What are the consequences of this process? How do established parties react to the emergence and ongoing establishment of populist parties? Do party systems further polarize? And how to citizens’ relate to such new coalitions? In this panel, we invite papers dealing with such and related questions, i.e. papers which analyze the impact of populism on party behavior. Panel 3: Populism and Electoral Behavior While many populist parties are successful in elections, the level of support for populist parties varies between countries and also between left-wing and right-wing populists. Existing research provides competing arguments and empirical insights for why populist parties are successful in elections. These explanations range from typical spatial models, focusing on populist parties’ anti-immigration stances and class-based arguments focusing on economic deprivation, but also other explanations stemming for the protest potential associated with a populist vote. A related question is whether populism itself matters for understanding voters support for populist parties, or whether vote decisions are driven by the policy profile offered by populist parties. In this panel, we invite papers dealing with such questions and investigate populist parties from an electoral study perspective, i.e. papers which address the relationship between populism and voting behavior. Panel 4: Populism and the COVID-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 Pandemic has substantially affected and changed the political landscape around the Globe. While some portray the pandemic as a challenge for populist parties and predict their decline, others remain skeptical and forecast increased support for populist parties in light of future economic consequences of the pandemic. Papers in this panel focus on an issue that in general is of low salience for most populist parties: public health. However, populist parties have often responded to the pandemic by criticizing established parties for their lockdown measures to fight the pandemic and often allied with supporters of conspiracy theories about COVID-19. Therefore, this panel invites contributions which analyze the impact of populism on understanding political behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Potential research questions could be: How have populist parties responded to the COVID-19 Pandemic? Or how does populism affect citizens’ attitudes toward COVID-19 policies? Panel 5: Populism: Between Thin- and Thick Ideologies It has become quite common in research to define populism as a “thin centered” ideology, which builds on the two sub-dimensions anti-elite attitudes and people-centrism. In addition, the “thin centered” ideology concept requires that it is combined with certain “thick” host ideologies. Recent research started to disentangle the effect of these two concepts (thick and thin ideologies) on different outcomes ranging from electoral success to the impact on liberal democracy. Moreover, there is an ongoing debate regarding the question of how populism is distributed in the multi-dimensional policy space. This panel is devoted to clarify the relationship between populism and host ideologies. Is populism more prevalent among certain host ideologies? Are voters attracted by populist sentiment or by the policy positions of populist parties? Are certain forms of political behavior a function of the interaction between policy positions and populism?