1st Edition

The Ideational Approach to Populism Concept, Theory, and Analysis

    468 Pages 69 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    468 Pages 69 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Populism is on the rise in Europe and the Americas. Scholars increasingly understand populist forces in terms of their ideas or discourse, one that envisions a cosmic struggle between the will of the common people and a conspiring elite. In this volume, we advance populism scholarship by proposing a causal theory and methodological guidelines – a research program – based on this ideational approach. This program argues that populism exists as a set of widespread attitudes among ordinary citizens, and that these attitudes lie dormant until activated by weak democratic governance and policy failure. It offers methodological guidelines for scholars seeking to measure populist ideas and test their effects. And, to ground the program empirically, it tests this theory at multiple levels of analysis using original data on populist discourse across European and US party systems; case studies of populist forces in Europe, Latin America, and the US; survey data from Europe and Latin America; and experiments in Chile, the US, and the UK. The result is a truly systematic, comparative approach that helps answer questions about the causes and effects of populism.

    Introduction: the ideational approach

    Kirk A. Hawkins, Brigham Young University

    Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser, Diego Portales University

    Part I - MEASURING POPULIST IDEAS

    Chapter 1 - Textual analysis: big data approaches

    Kirk A. Hawkins, Brigham Young University

    Bruno Castanho Silva, University of Cologne

    Chapter 2 - Textual analysis: the UK party system

    Luke March, University of Edinburgh

    Chapter 3 - Textual analysis: an inclusive approach in Croatia

    Marijana Grbeša, University of Zagreb

    Berto Šalaj, University of Zagreb

    Chapter 4 - Expert surveys

    Nina Wiesehomeier, IE University

    Chapter 5 - Elite surveys

    Ioannis Andreadis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

    Saskia P. Ruth, German Institute of Global and Area Studies

    Chapter 6 - Public opinion surveys: evaluating existing measures

    Steven M. Van Hauwaert, University of Mainz

    Christian H. Schimpf, University of Mannheim

    Flavio Azevedo, Cologne University

    Chapter 7 - Public opinion surveys: a new measure

    Bruno Castanho Silva, University of Cologne

    Ioannis Andreadis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki 

    Eva Anduiza, Autonomous University of Barcelona 

    Nebojša Blanuša, University of Zagreb 

    Yazmin Morlet Corti, National Autonomous University of Mexico 

    Gisela Delfino, Argentine Catholic University and National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina 

    Guillem Rico, Autonomous University of Barcelona 

    Saskia P. Ruth, University of Zurich, NCCR Democracy 

    Bram Spruyt, Free University of Brussels 

    Marco Steenbergen, University of Zurich 

    Levente Littvay, European Consortium for Political Research

    Part II - TESTING THE IDEATIONAL THEORY

    Chapter 8 - Populist mobilization across time and space

    Hans-Georg Betz, University of Zurich

    Chapter 9 - Populist success in Latin America and Western Europe: ideational and party-system-centered rxplanations

    Simon Bornschier, University of Zurich

    Chapter 10 - Populist voting in Chile, Greece, Spain, and Bolivia

    Ioannis Andreadis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

    Kirk A. Hawkins, Brigham Young University

    Ivan Llamazares, University of Salamanca

    Matthew M. Singer, University of Connecticut

    Chapter 11 - Populist success: a qualitative comparative analysis

    Bruno Castanho Silva, University of Cologne

    Chapter 12 - Populism in Spain: the role of ideational change in Podemos

    Margarita Gómez-Reino, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia

    Iván Llamazares Valduvieco, University of Salamanca

    Chapter 13 - Populism in Venezuela: the role of the opposition

    Sahar Abi-Hassan, Boston University

    Chapter 14 - Populism in Belgium: the mobilization of the body anti-politic

    Koen Abts, Institute of Social and Political Opinion Research

    Thierry Kochuyt, Nottingham Trent Univeristy

    Stijn van Kessel, Queen Mary University of London

    Chapter 15 - Populism in the US: the evolution of the Trump constituency

    Wendy Rahn, University of Minnesota

    Chapter 16 - Activating populist attitudes: the role of corruption

    Ethan C. Busby, Northwestern University

    David Doyle, University of Oxford

    Kirk A. Hawkins, Brigham Young University

    Nina Wiesehomeier, IE University

    Chapter 17 - Populist voters: the role of authoritarianism and ideology

    Rosario Aguilar, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE).

    Ryan E. Carlin, Georgia State University

    Conclusion

    Ryan E. Carlin, Georgia State University

    Kirk A. Hawkins, Brigham Young University

    Levente Littvay, European Consortium for Political Research

    Jennifer McCoy, Georgia State University

    Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser, Diego Portales University

    Biography

    Kirk A. Hawkins, Brigham Young University, USA.

    Ryan E. Carlin, Georgia State University, USA.

    Levente Littvay, Central European University, Hungary.

    Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser, Universidad Diego Portales, Chile.

    "This pioneering volume is the first collection of empirical, mostly comparative, studies of populism at the elite and mass level, which is truly grounded in the increasingly dominant ideational approach. It should be required reading for both the few old and the many new scholars of populism." Cas Mudde, Stanley Wade Shelton UGAF Professor, University of Georgia, USA

    "This volume is sure to be a landmark in the comparative study of populism. It brings together a team of scholars who share an ideational approach to the study of populism, and it demonstrates how this approach lends itself to a wide range of methodological tools – both quantitative and qualitative – to empirically analyze populist ideas in elite political discourse and mass beliefs. In so doing, it brings much-needed analytical coherence to a field of study where scholars too often disagree on fundamental concepts and speak past one another." Kenneth M. Roberts, Richard J. Schwartz Professor, Cornell University, USA

    "The Ideational Approach to Populism is a timely and compelling book that takes seriously the ideology and appeals of populist movements. Its rigorous and compelling analyses of populism range from Latin American party manifestoes, to episodes of historical populist mobilization in Europe, to experimental evidence regarding the role of corruption as a catalyst for populist support. The result is a rich and multi-faceted volume that is a must-read for scholars of populism – and for others intrigued by the phenomenon." Anna Grzymala-Busse, Michelle and Kevin Douglass Professor, Political Science, Stanford, USA