Populism
Book Review | Go Home? The Politics of Immigration Controversies by Hannah Jones et al
In Go Home? The Politics of Immigration Controversies, Hannah Jones et al investigate the effects of UK immigration policy on local communities, drawing on interviews, focus groups, ethnographic observations and surveys. The book offers a powerful demonstration of the everyday impact of immigration controls and narratives, writes Sarah Burton, and unserscores the necessity of forging solidarities of resistance. Similar PostsBook […]
The rise of Germany’s AfD: from ordoliberalism to nationalism and into the Bundestag?
Opinion polls suggest that as many as six independent parties could cross the electoral threshold and enter the Bundestag in Germany’s federal elections in September. Julian Göpffarth traces the rise of the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), which narrowly missed out on entering the Bundestag in the last federal elections in 2013, but which is well placed to […]
Book review | On Extremism and Democracy in Europe, by Cas Mudde
In On Extremism and Democracy in Europe, Cas Mudde presents a number of essays reflecting on the far right, populism, Euroscepticism and the state of liberal democracy today. Challenging prevailing fears, particularly those promoted in the mainstream media, this book offers a reliable and approachable analysis of contemporary European politics that will be of use […]
Lend us your ears: fixing the crisis of legitimacy in politics
A crisis in legitimacy afflicts British and American politics. Voters complain their voices go unheard. Democratic Audit editor Ros Taylor asks Harvard democracy professor Jane Mansbridge why, in a society where new channels of communication are opening up, politicians are increasingly distanced from the electorate. How does it help to explain Donald Trump’s success – and what are […]
No ‘suicide note’: Jeremy Corbyn, not his manifesto, is what holds Labour back
Labour’s manifesto is not the hard-left document its opponents would have you believe, writes Robin Pettitt. It has little in common with the infamous 1983 ‘suicide note’, not least in its moderate stance on defence. The manifesto advocates gradual change and some of its ideas, such as a National Education Service, are innovative. What is […]
Macron has won the presidency – but En Marche! now has to find parliamentary candidates
Newly-elected president Emmanuel Macron now faces the daunting task of securing a majority in the country’s upcoming legislative elections. Marta Lorimer writes that although early opinion polling has been encouraging for Macron’s ‘En Marche!’ movement, he has to find candidates quickly – and will no longer enjoy the ‘anyone-but-Le-Pen’ boost. Similar PostsWhy do the French hate […]
May’s conservative statecraft gives us a little democracy now to avoid an outbreak later
Approaching its second general election in two years, with a referendum squeezed in between, you would be forgiven for thinking that Britain was in the midst of a democratic bonanza. Think again, writes Craig Berry. He argues that the Prime Minister’s decision to call a snap election signifies a rather cynical, undemocratic turn in British […]
Essay | William Davies on populism and the limits of neoliberalism
Coinciding with the release of a revised edition of The Limits of Neoliberalism: Authority, Sovereignty and the Logic of Competition, previously reviewed on LSE Review of Books in 2015, William Davies argues that the recent surge in ‘populism’ must be understood in relation to the structures of political, cultural and moral economy, in particular the inability […]
A personality cult that plays on popular fears: how Erdoğan won the Turkish referendum
Turkey has narrowly voted to approve a set of reforms that will place more power in the hands of President Tayip Recep Erdoğan, giving him the ability to appoint judges, abolish the office of prime minister and curtail the role of parliament. Tahir Abbas explains how the febrile atmosphere of the past two years – […]
To fend off populism, we must stop believing in the will of the People
Populists rely on an idea of the people as a single, united force. Unfortunately, argues Luke Temple, traditional conceptions of democracy itself depend on a very similar notion. Unity and concordance is prized. This makes it difficult to challenge the underlying basis of populists’ arguments. But there is another way of understanding democracy – as […]
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