The Three Faces of Populism in Power: Polity, Policies and Politics

Abstract

In this article, we explore the consequences of the increasing presence of both left- and right-wing populist parties in government, critically reflecting on the recent scholarship on the topic, underlining promising venues for future research and outlining a conceptual framework which constitutes the background of this special issue entitled ‘Populism in Power and its Consequences’. Our main contribution is empirical, since – by reflecting on the various articles hosted in the special issue – we assess the impact of populist parties in government on politics, polities and various policy domains. We also provide an account of potential moderating factors of the influence of populists in government, focus on different ideological underpinnings of types of populisms (left-wing and right-wing) and discuss their relevance. We conclude by identifying four possible scenarios for European populist parties in governments: radicalization, compromise and moderation, splintering, or loss.

Going Local, Going Mainstream? Ethnographic Study of Two French Cities Governed by the Rassemblement National

“…Numerous studies have scrutinized how PRR political entities have grappled with governance (Akkerman and de Lange 2012; Albertazzi and Mueller 2013;Kaltwasser and Taggart 2015), particularly examining the effects of governmental responsibilities on radicality and core ideological traits (Albertazzi and McDonnell 2015;Dieckhoff et al 2021). While 'inclusion-moderation' theories (Tepe 2019) suggest a moderating effect, other empirical findings present a more nuanced picture (Akkerman et al 2016;Caiani and Graziano 2022;Zulianello 2019). They demonstrate that de-radicalization is not an automatic process but depends on multiple factors, such as the party's political tradition and strategies (Albertazzi and McDonnell 2010;Bartha et al 2020), internal organization and leadership (Bernhard 2020;Zaslove 2012) and the power balance between radical and mainstream forces in coalitions (Askim et al 2022;Capaul and Ewert 2021).…”

Effect of populism on the internationalization of emerging market firms

“…For example, policymaking in nonpopulist democracies is heavily influenced by area-specific technocrats, whose expertise provides firms with a view of the potential effects of a given policy on economic and sociopolitical environments. Conversely and by definition, populist policymaking is against expert positions, because it is responsive to the majoritarian preferences of the people (Caiani and Graziano, 2022).…”

Reinterpreting Authoritarian Populisms: The Elitist Plebeian Vision of State

“…9 Some such studies ask how and when populists in office shape the state, and thereby democracy. They regard this as an empirical question, answer to which are necessarily contingent upon the conjunction of multiple circumstances that enable or disable, incentivise or disincentivise, and stimulate, retard or divert populist state-shaping (Albertazzi and McDonnell, 2015;Caiani and Graziano, 2022;Mudde and Kaltwasser, 2012). Accordingly, they maintain that populist authoritarian state-shaping is not reducible to the content of populist meaning systems.…”