Still the Age of Populism?

Still the Age of Populism? investigates current conceptions of populism and its relevance across the globe. Using contextualized case studies, cross-national comparisons, and theoretical interventions, this volume addresses key conceptual debates in comparative politics and political sociology.

This essential volume brings together scholars from different traditions in political sociology, political science and cultural studies, and comparativists and area experts working on Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, and the US. Chapters in the book employ innovative theoretical approaches to study aspects of populism in global comparative perspective whilst regional case studies, including Brazil, Venezuela, Germany, and the US, are utilised to explore populism in geographically specific contexts. In doing so, the volume addresses the key issues for those seeking to understand contemporary populism. What are the advantages and limits of the category of populism to understand contemporary debates on democratization and processes of democratic erosion? Under what structural, institutional, and cultural conditions does populism emerge? Is populism the nemesis of democracy, its shadow, or a path to move beyond “liberal democracy” towards “real democracy”? What lessons does the history of past populist moment hold for our understanding of contemporary populist governance? Under what conditions have populists in office led to political polarization and democratic erosion? What comes after populism, and how do societies deal with its legacies?

Still the Age of Populism? will be of interest to a broad audience of students and scholars of political sociology and comparative politics.

Michael Bernhard holds the Raymond and Miriam Ehrlich Chair in Political Science at the University of Florida, USA. His work centers on questions of democratization and development including the role of civil society in democratization, institutional choice in new democracies, the political economy of democratic survival, and the legacy of extreme forms of dictatorship. He has long been associated with the Varieties of Democracy project in a number of different capacities and served as the editor of Perspectives on Politics from 2017 to 2023.

Amie Kreppel is the Jean Monnet Chair, Director of the Jean Monnet Center of Excellence and Professor of Political Science and European Studies at the University of Florida, USA. She has served as President of the European Union Studies Association and has been both a Braudel Fellow at the European University Institute and a Fulbright-Schuman Chair at the College of Europe. Her research focuses on the political institutions and decision-making in the European Union and Italy.

Carlos de la Torre is Professor and Director of the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Florida, Gainesville. He was a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellow (2011), and a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He is the author of Global Populisms with Treethep Srisa-nga, (2021), Populisms: A Quick Immersion (2019); Populist Seduction in Latin America (second edition 2010). He edited The Routledge Handbook of Global Populism, The Promises and Perils of Populism: Global Perspectives (2015), and with Oscar Mazzoleni Populism and Key Concepts in Social and Political Theory (2023).