Populism in Europe and the Americas: A cross-regional perspective

Welcome to the webpage of the research project Populism in Europe and the Americas: A cross-regional perspective, which is financed by the British Academy International Partnership and Mobility Scheme. This is a joint project between the Department of Politics of the University of Sussex and the Department of Political Science of the Catholic University of Chile, and it is coordinated by Paul Taggart, Pierre Ostiguy and Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser.

Abstract

Europe and the Americas have experienced a rise of populist leaders and parties in the last twenty years. However, there is almost no cross-regional research on this topic. Accordingly, this project represents a great opportunity for developing a series of academic activities with the aim of comparing contemporary populism in Europe and the Americas. The interaction between area specialists dealing with Eastern Europe, Western Europe, North America and Latin America will permit us to gain new insights into at least three subjects: 1) the concept of populism as such and its regional particularities; 2) the factors that hinder and foster the (re)emergence of populism; 3) the existence of different strategies to deal with populism, which can be more or less successful from a democratic point of view. In addition, we see this project as a great opportunity to explore the establishment of a more extensive programme of collaboration and exchange between the two the Departments of Politics of the leading institutions behind this proposal: the University of Sussex and the Catholic University of Chile.

Output

We are working towards the production of the “Handbook of Populism”, which will include a section on the concept of populism, a section on populism in different sub-regions of the world, and a section on theoretical debates related to populism.

Agenda

Co-ordination meeting and project presentation, 28-29 November 2013, Santiago do Chile

Paul Taggart: Populism in Europe

Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser: Populism and Democracy

Pierre Ostiguy: Discussant and presentation of the project

Academic Workshop on the concept of populism, 28 June 2013, Brighton

Cas Mudde: Populism as an ideology

Pierre Ostiguy: The way do it: the appeals of high and low in politics

Kurt Weyland: Populism – discourse or strategy? A assessment of recent conceptual debates

Discussants: Paul Taggart, Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser, Stefan Rummens, and Andrej Zaslove

Workshop on Comparative Populism in the world, 4-5 July 2014, Santiago de Chile

Organizers: Pierre Ostiguy (Catholic University of Chile), Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser (Diego Portales University) and Paul Taggart (University of Sussex)

Welcome and Presentation

Welcome: Pierre Ostiguy

Presentation: Paul Taggart

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA    

Chair: Danielle Resnick, International Food Policy Research Institute

Presenter: Joe Lowndes, University of Oregon

Discussant: Pierre Ostiguy, Universidad Catolica de Chile         

POST-SOVIET STATES             

Chair: Ben Stanley, University of Sussex

Presenter: Luke March, Glasgow University

Discussant: Gabriel Vommaro, Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento Conicet

WESTERN EUROPE                                          

Chair: Carlos de la Torre, University of Kentucky

Presenter: Paul Taggart, University of Sussex

Discussant: Kirk Hawkins 

AFRICA

Chair: Joe Lowndes, University of Oregon

Presenter: Danielle Resnick, International Food Policy Research Institute

Discussant: Elaine Thomas 

EAST ASIA                                                                     

Chair: Paul Taggart, University of Sussex

Presenter: Olli Hellmann, University of Sussex

Discussant: Maria Esperanza Casullo, Universidad Nacional de Rio Negro Conicet 

EASTERN EUROPE                                

Chair: Luke March, University of Edinburgh

Presenter: Ben Stanley, University of Sussex

Discussant: Cristobal Rovira, Universidad Diego Portales

LATIN AMERICA                                                

Chair: Pierre Ostiguy, Universidad Católica de Chile

Presenter: Carlos de la Torre, University of Kentucky

Discussant: Sebastian Barros, UNPSJB – Conicet

INDIA                                                                      

Chair: Olli Hellmann, University of Sussex

Reader: Paul Taggart; on behalf of Christophe Jaffrelot, CERI-Sciences Po/ CNRS and King’s India Institute, King’s College; and Louise Tillin, King’s India Institute, King’s College

Discussant: Alejandro Pelfini, Universidad Alberto Hurtado

ROUND-UP DISCUSSION AND LOOKING AHEAD 

Cristobal Rovira Paul Taggart and Pierre Ostiguy

Dealing with populists in Goverment, 16 July 2015, London

Populist actors continue to play a role in shaping electoral outcomes, winning power as we have seen in Greece with Syriza or in Hungary with Fidesz, or supporting coalition governments as witnessed in countries such as Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, and Austria. Having a framework for looking at different responses to populists in government has become ever more important.

At this roundtable discussion, Paul Taggart and Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser will present the findings of a new comparative project of populists in power, drawing on case studies from Austria, Ecuador, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Venezuela. They will present the comparative conclusions from the case studies and a framework for looking at the variety of responses to populist forces in government. 

Key questions:
-    What are the common trends for populists in power across the different countries?
-    What strategies can mainstream parties pursue to counter populists?
-    To what extent should mainstream actors be focused on alleviating the demand for populist actors?

Presentation:

Paul Taggart, professor, University of Sussex (@PaulAdamTaggart)

Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser, associate professor, University Diego Portales, Chile

Discussants:

Erin Marie Saltman, senior researcher, Institute for Strategic Dialogue (@ErinSaltman)

Tim Bale, professor, Queen Mary University of London (@ProfTimBale)

Chair:

Claudia Chwalisz, researcher, Policy Network and author of The Populist Signal(@ClaudiaChwalisz)

Populismo en Europa y las Américas: una perspectiva comparada entre regiones

Bienvenido a la página web del proyecto de investigación Populismo en Europa y las Américas: una perspectiva comparada entre regiones, el cual es financiado por el British Academy International Partnership and Mobility Scheme. Este es un proyecto en conjunto entre el Departamento de Politica de la Universidad de Sussex y el Departamento de Ciencia Política de la Universidad Católica de Chile, y es coordinado por Paul Taggart, Pierre Ostiguy y Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser.

Resumen del proyecto

Europa y las Américas han experimentado el surgimiento de líderes y partidos populistas en los últimos veinte años. No obstante, prácticamente no existen investigaciones comparadas entre estas regiones sobre este tema. En consecuencia, este proyecto representa una gran oportunidad para desarrollar una serie de actividades académicas con el objeto de comparar el populismo contemporáneo en Europa y las Américas. La interacción mediante especialistas trabajando sobre Europa Occidental, Europa del Este, Norteamérica y América Latina nos va a permitir obtener nuevos conocimientos sobre al menos tres materias: 1) el concepto de populismo propiamente tal y sus particularidades a nivel regional; 2) los factores que impiden y facilitan la (re)emergencia del populismo; 3) la existencia de diferentes estrategias para lidiar con el populismo, las cuales pueden ser más o menos efectivas desde un punto de vista democrático. Al mismo tiempo, nosotros concebimos este proyecto como una gran oportunidad para explorar el establecimiento de un más extenso programa de colaboración e intercambio entre los dos Departamentos de Política de las instituciones centrales que están detrás de esta propuesta: la Universidad de Sussex y la Universidad Católica de Chile.

Resultado

Estamos trabajando en la producción del “Handbook of Populism”, el cual va incluir una sección sobre el concepto de populismo, una sección sobre el populismo en diferentes sub-regiones del mundo, y una sección sobre debates teóricos respecto al populismo.

Agenda

Encuentro de coordinación, 28-29 de noviembre del 2012, en Santiago de Chile 

Paul Taggart: Populismo en Europa 

Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser: Populismo y democracia 

Pierre Ostiguy: Discusión y presentación del proyecto

Taller sobre el concepto de populismo, 28 de junio del 2013, en Brighton 

Cas Mudde: Populismo como ideología 

Pierre Ostiguy: La manera de hacerlo: las apelaciones de lo alto y lo bajo en política 

Kurt Weyland: Populismo – discurso o estrategia? Una evaluación de recientes debates conceptuales 

Discusión: Paul Taggart, Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser, Stefan Rummens, and Andrej Zaslove 

Próximo evento, Julio del 2014,  en Santiago de Chile 

Participantes: serán confirmados más adelante