Populism: is it transforming Europe’s politics?

A constellation of so-called populist political parties – either right- or left-wing, sovereignist or radical left, but equally challenging for traditional parties – has filled in recent years the European political horizon. Taking advantage of the incapability of mainstream parties to build consensus in an era of recurring crises, these parties have filled political vacuums, offered simplistic and fragmented solutions to wide and complex questions, and successfully used new media, with the consequence of producing significant transformations in the way we “do and speak politics”.

The observation of these parties and of the political dynamics that they have introduced in the European political landscape have been for years at the centre of the investigation of FEPS and its partners. In particular the “Populism Tracker”, published in cooperation with Policy Solutions and now at its 6th edition, yearly illustrates, country by country, the ups and downs of populist parties in Europe. While the book “Changing political discourse in aftermath of the 2008 crisis. The case of Italy”, produced in cooperation with the Fondazione Gramsci, analyses the evolution of nationalist and populist discourses and the impact that their anti-establishment messages have had on Italian politics.

The publication of these two researches, offer the opportunity to better grasp these developments, which is, in fact, the first step towards effectively responding to them.

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