Is There a Populist Wave in Europe?
Populism is an ideology—or a series of ideologies, depending on one’s perspective—based on distinguishing the will of ‘the people’ from that of the corrupt ‘elite’. Populism is on the rise across Europe and scholars and policymakers now speak of a populist wave sweeping the continent. But does the rise of these movements across the continent warrant the ‘populist wave’ label with which it is so often associated? In this commentary, Benjamin Martill and José Feio examine the rise of populist parties in Europe, and question the extent to which the recent success of populist parties is a singular phenomenon, or whether it is a result of parallel evolution.
Read the commentary here.