Podemos supporters gathered in
Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, 31 January 2015. Photograph: David Ramos/Getty
Images
Up until a couple of years ago the
consensus among European elites on the left and right was that populism was
inherently bad. It was dismissed as a “pathology of democracy” or, as the American
historian Richard Hofstadterwrote in the 1960s, “the paranoid style of
politics”. The rise of leftwing populist movements and parties has seen a shift
in the public debate, particularly pushed by followers of Chantal Mouffe and
the late Ernesto Laclau, who argue that populism actually constitutes the
essence of democratic politics. In their view populism is good for democracy;
it is liberalism that is the real problem. Simply stated, both are right and
wrong. The relationship between populism and liberal democracy is complex and
includes the good, the bad and the ugly.
The main good is that populism
brings to the fore issues that large parts of the population care about, but
that the political elites want to avoid discussing; think about immigration for
the populist right or austerity for the populist left. Leaders from different
parties can come together to keep issues that divide their respective
electorates off the agenda – such as European integration and immigration.
In other cases they take it even a
step further, excluding controversial areas from the democratic process altogether
by putting independent, technocratic institutions in charge (such as the courts
or central banks). In many cases political elites have worked hand in glove
with cultural and economic elites, leaving virtually no space for democratic
opposition. To paraphrase the Mexican political theoristBenjamin Arditi, in
those cases populism behaves like the drunken guest at a dinner party, who
doesn’t respect the rules of public contestation but spells out the painful but
real problems of society.
The main bad is that populism is a
monist and moralist ideology, which denies the existence of divisions of
interests and opinions within “the people” and rejects the legitimacy of
political opponents. As the populists are the vox populi, ie the voice of
all the people, anyone with a different view speaks for “special interests”, ie
the elite. Given that the key distinction is between the pure people and the
corrupt elite, any compromise would lead to the corruption of the people and is
therefore rejected. This uncompromising stand leads to a polarised political
culture, in which non-populists turn into anti-populists.
Populism tends to get ugly when it
gets into power. If it has to share power with non-populists the effects,
positive or negative, tend to be small (think about the Schüssel governments
with the populist, radical right FPO in Austria). Even when populists dominate
the government, as is now the case in Greece, the negative aspects of populism
often are limited, although not for a lack of trying. Populists like Silvio
Berlusconi in Italy, theKaczyńskis in
Poland, or Vladimír Mečiar in Slovakia regularly tried to circumvent or
undermine the power of countervailing forces, including independent judges and
the political opposition. In most cases they were successfully opposed by other
parts of the political structure – often with help from outside influences,
most notably the European Union.
However, the current situation in
Hungary and Venezuela shows us what populism can do when it takes full control
of a country. Supported by impressive popular majorities in elections, populist
leaders like Viktor Orbán and Hugo Chávez have introduced new constitutions
that significantly undermine the checks and balances of liberal democracy. In
addition, loyalists have been put at the head of non-majoritarian institutions,
such as the courts and other oversight committees, often for periods that
extend well beyond the legislative term. Any opposition is frustrated by a
combination of legal and extra-legal pressures, from raids by tax agencies to
the rejection of renewals of media licences.
In short, populism is an illiberal
democratic response to undemocratic liberalism. It criticises the exclusion of
important issues from the political agenda by the elites and calls for their
repoliticisation. However, this comes at a price. Populism’s black and white
views and uncompromising stand leads to a polarised society – for which, of
course, both sides share responsibility – and its majoritarian extremism denies
legitimacy to opponents’ views and weakens the rights of minorities. While
leftwing populism is often less exclusionary than rightwing populism, the main
difference between them is not whether they exclude, but whom they exclude,
which is largely determined by their accompanying ideology (eg nationalism or
socialism).
Nigel Farage: no friend of Herman van Rompuy. Flickr/George Carrick. Some rights reserved.Already in 2010, a good five years before a populist coalition government would be formed in Greece, then EU President Herman van Rompuy called populism “the greatest danger for Europe” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 9 April 2010). Since then, many establishment voices have done the same, from German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the editors of the New York Times. What all warnings have in common is that they (1) come from people in power; (2) are vague on the exact meaning of populism; and (3) claim that populism is (omni)present in European politics.
Historically populism has been a marginal political phenomenon in Europe, unlike in the Americas (North and South). In recent years populist parties of left and right have gained electoral successes throughout Europe, although their effects on European politics have so far remained fairly limited.
What populism is (not)
Populism is a buzzword in the media around the world. There is virtually not a politician who has not been labeled populist at one time. In fact, accused would be a better term, as most people use populism is a Kampfbegriff to defame a political opponent. Few politicians self-identify as populist. Those who do usually first redefine the term in a way that is closer to the popular use of democracy than of populism.
In the public debate populism is mostly used to denounce a form of politics that uses (a combination of) demagogy, charismatic leadership, or a Stammtisch (pub) discourse. None of the three are accurate understandings of populism. While some populists might promise everything to everyone (i.e. demagogy) or speak a simple, even vulgar, language (i.e. Stammtisch discourse), many do not. More importantly, many non-populist populists also do this, particularly during election campaigns. Similarly, while some successful populists are charismatic leaders, some are not, and many successful non-populists are also considered charismatic.
Instead, populism is best defined as a thin-centered ideology that considers society to be ultimately separated into two homogeneous and antagonistic groups, ‘the pure people’ and ‘the corrupt elite’, and which argues that politics should be an expression of the volonté general (general will) of the people. This means that populism is a particular view on how society is and should be structured, but it addresses only a limited part of the larger political agenda. For example, it says little about the ideal economic or political system that a (populist) state should have. Its essential features are: morality and monism.
The key point is that populism sees both groups as essentially homogeneous, i.e. without fundamental internal divisions, and considers the essence of the division between the two groups to be moral. Consequently, its main opposites are elitism and pluralism. Elitism sees the same major division, but considers the elite to be pure and the people as corrupt. Pluralism has a fundamentally different worldview than both elitism and populism, seeing society as divided into several groups with different interests and favoring a politics based on consensus between these groups.
Contrary to what defenders and opponents may claim, populism is neither the essence nor thenegation of democracy. To put it simply, populism is pro-democracy, but anti-liberal democracy. It supports popular sovereignty and majority rule, but rejects pluralism and minority rights. In the European context, populism can be seen as an illiberal democratic answer to problems created by an undemocratic liberalism. Criticizing the decade-old trend to depoliticize controversial issues by placing them outside of the national democratic (i.e. electoral) realm, by transferring them to supranational institutions like the European Union or to (neo-)liberal institutions like courts and central banks, populists call for the re-politicization of issues like European integration, gay rights, or immigration.
A final point to note is that populism is neither right nor left; or, perhaps better, populism can be found on both the left and the right. This is not exactly the same as saying that populism is like a “chameleon,” as it is not necessarily the same populist actor who changes colors. Populism rarely exists in a pure form, in the sense that most populist actors combine it with another ideology. This so-called host ideology, which tends to be very stable, is either left or right. Generally, left populists will combine populism with some interpretation of socialism, while right populists will combine it with some form of nationalism. Today populism is more on the left in Southern Europe and more on the right in Northern Europe.
Populism in Europe
Although populism has a long history in Europe, it has always been a marginal political phenomenon. It emerged for the first time in Russia in the late-19th century. The so-called Narodniki were a relatively small group of urban elites who unsuccessfully tried to stir a peasant revolt. While unsuccessful in Russia, Nardoniki did have a strong influence in Eastern Europe, where several agrarian populist parties existed in the early 20th century. Most of these groups had little political influence in the largely authoritarian states of that period. And while both communism and fascism used populist rhetoric, particularly during the movement stage, both ideologies and regimes were essentially elitist.
Post-war Europe saw very little populism until the 1990s. There was Poujadism in France in the late-1950s, the Danish and Norwegian Progress Parties in the 1970s, and PASOK in the 1980s, but all these movements were largely sui genesis rather than part of a broader populist moment. This changed with the rise of the populist radical right in the late 1980s. Although the oldest parties of this group, like the National Front (FN) in France and the Flemish Bloc (now Flemish Interest, VB) in Belgium, started out as elitist parties, they soon embraced a populist platform with slogans like “We Say What You Think” and “The Voice of the People.” In recent years a new left populism has also emerged in some countries, particularly in Southern Europe.
Table 1 lists the most important populist parties in Europe today – only the most successful party in each country is included. The third column gives the electoral result in the most recent European election of May 2014, which vary from 51.5 percent to 3.7 percent of the vote – note that countries without a successful populist party are excluded (e.g. Luxembourg, Portugal or Slovenia). On average, populist parties gained some 12.5 percent of the vote in the last European elections; not insignificant, but hardly a “political earthquake” as the international media claimed.
Table 1. Main populist party results in 2014 European elections and most recent national election (and change to previous similar election) |
Country | Populist Party | %EP14 | %Nat | Rank | %Total | %Change |
Austria | Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) | 19.7 | 20.5 | 3 | 29.8 | +1.5 |
Belgium | Flemish Interest (VB) | 4.1 | 3.7 | 10 | 5.6 | -5.7 |
Bulgaria | Bulgaria Without Censorship (BBT) | 10.7 | 5.7 | 6 | 10.2 | +2.9 |
Denmark | Danish People’s Party (DFP) | 26.6 | 12.3 | 3 | 12.3 | -1.5 |
Finland | Finns Party (PS) | 12.9 | 19.1 | 2 | 17.7 | -1.4 |
France | National Front (FN) | 25.0 | 13.6 | 3 | 20.5 | +16.2 |
Germany | The Left | 7.3 | 8.6 | 3 | 10.5 | -1.0 |
Greece | Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) | 26.6 | 36.3 | 1 | 42.1 | +6.1 |
Hungary | Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union (Fidesz) | 51.5 | 44.5 | 1 | 65.0 | -4.3 |
Ireland | Sinn Fein (SF) | 19.5 | 9.9 | 4 | 11.3 | +3.7 |
Italy | Five Star Movement (M5S) | 21.2 | 25.6 | 1 | 51.3 | +5.6 |
Lithuania | Order and Justice (TT) | 14.3 | 7.3 | 4 | 7.3 | -5.4 |
Netherlands | Party for Freedom (PVV) | 13.2 | 10.1 | 3 | 19.8 | -5.6 |
Norway | Progress Party (FrP) | -- | 16.3 | 3 | 16.3 | -6.6 |
Poland | Law and Justice (PiS) | 31.8 | 29.9 | 2 | 39.9 | +7.8 |
Romania | People’s Party – Dan Diaconescu (PP-DD) | 3.7 | 14.7 | 3 | 16.1 | +13.0 |
Slovakia | Direction-Social Democracy (Smer-SD) | 24.1 | 44.4 | 1 | 63.4 | +11.4 |
Spain | We Can (Podemos) | 8.0 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Sweden | Sweden Democrats (SD) | 9.7 | 12.9 | 3 | 12.9 | +7.2 |
Switzerland | Swiss People’s Party (SVP) | -- | 26.6 | 1 | 27.8 | -1.7 |
UK | United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) | 27.5 | 3.1 | 3 | 13.2 | +7.6
|
A better insight into the electoral and political relevance of populist parties is provided by the results in the most recent national elections. The fourth column gives the result of the most successful populist party in the country, the fifth column its ranking among all national parties, the sixth the total electoral support of all populist parties in the country, and the seventh column the change in the total national populist vote between the most recent and the previous national election. Here are the most important lessons to be drawn.
First, populist parties are electorally successful in most European countries. In roughly twenty European countries a populist party gains at least 10 percent of the national vote. Second, all populist parties together score an average of ca. 16.5% of the vote in national elections. This ranges from a staggering 65 percent in Hungary, shared between Fidesz and the Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik), to 5.6 percent in Belgium. Third, while the overall trend is up, most populist parties are electorally volatile. Few populist parties have been able to establish themselves as relatively stable political forces in their national party system. Fourth, there are huge cross-national and cross-temporal differences within Europe. While some populist parties are brand-new (e.g. M5S and Podemos), others are several decades old (e.g. FN, FPÖ, The Left, SVP). Similarly, whereas some parties are on the up (e.g. DF, SYRIZA, UKIP), others are in a downfall (e.g. PP-DD and VB).
When we are focusing only on the (minority of) European countries where populism is a major political phenomenon, there are four important conclusions to draw. First, in five countries a populist party is the biggest political party – Greece, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, and Switzerland. Second, populist parties gained a majority of votes in three countries – Hungary, Italy, and Slovakia. However, in at least two of these countries the main populist parties are strongly opposed to collaboration. The situation in Hungary is most striking, as both its main governmental party (Fidesz) and its main opposition party (Jobbik) is populist. Third, populist parties are currently in the national government in seven countries – Finland, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Norway, Slovakia, and Switzerland. Greece is unique in that it has a populist coalition government of a left and a right populist party. Fourth, and final, in six countries a populist party is part of the established political parties – Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Switzerland. This is important to note, as populism is normally associated exclusively with challenger parties and deemed incapable of establishing itself in a political system. Yet, while populist parties have to be extra careful not to be considered part of ‘the elite’, populists like former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi and current Hungarian premier Viktor Orbán have been successful at retaining their cleverly constructed ‘outsider’ status in power.
Why is populism successful (now)?
Given the immense academic interest in the phenomenon of populism one would assume that we have a good understanding of why populist parties are successful and, even more specific, under which circumstances they rise and decline. This is not the case. Most analyses of European populism focus almost exclusively on one type of populist parties, notably the populist radical right, and particularly its non-populist aspects. However, immigration has little explanatory power for populist parties in countries that have little immigration (like Hungary and Poland) or for populist parties that don’t oppose immigration (such as Podemos or SYRIZA). At the same time, the most popular theories are often too broad and vague. While crisis and globalization have some relationship to the rise of populism, globalization is related to everything and crisis is usually undefined and simply used whenever a populist party becomes successful (making the ‘theory’ tautological). The following four reasons are also quite broad, and to a certain extent vague, but indicate some important factors that address both the demand-side and supply-side of populist politics.
First, large parts of the European electorates believe that important issues are not (adequately) addressed by the political elites. This relates to issues like European integration and immigration, on which established parties have long been unwilling to campaign, as well as socio-economic issues like unemployment and welfare state reform, particularly in light of the current economic crisis. While it seems fair to argue that political elites have indeed been less forthcoming and successful in addressing important issues, and to a larger extent than in previous periods (i.e. before the 1990s), what is more important to note is that large parts of the European populations have come to perceive this as a major problem. This has created widespread political dissatisfaction, which is a fertile breeding ground for populist parties, but also for other anti-establishment parties, such asCiudadanos (Citizens) in Spain.
Second, national political elites are increasingly perceived as being “all the same.” Again, the perception is more important than the reality, although the two are not unrelated. While commentators have decried the so-called “end of ideology” since the late 1960s, there is little doubt that the situation today is much more extreme. Responding to the structural transformation of European societies as a consequence of the “post-industrial revolution,” including the decline of the working class and secularization, the main established parties have moderated their ideologies and converged strongly on both socio-cultural and socio-economic issues. The emergence of the “neue Mitte” (new center) and “Third Way” on the center-left, which by and large transformed social democratic parties into center-right parties targeting the same voters as the Christian democratic and conservative-liberal parties, alienated a large part of the remaining working class and left more ideological voters of both left and right without a political voice.
Third, more and more people see the national politically elites as essentially “powerless”. Again, perception and reality are closely linked, even if many people will necessarily be accurately informed. In the past decades European elites have engaged in one of the most amazing transfers of power from the national to the supranational. Rarely have politicians so happily marginalized themselves. Of particular importance was the Maastricht Treaty of 1992, which has taken many important issues out of the national democratic realm and transferred them to the much less democratic EU sphere. This was, of course, most notably the case for the countries that joined the Eurozone, which no longer control their own currency or monetary policy. At the same time, the process of “cognitive mobilization” has made the European people better educated and more independent, and consequently more critical and less deferential toward the political elites. Getting mixed messages from the political elites, who claim to be powerless in the case of unpopular policies (“the results of the EU/globalization/US”) but in full control in the case of popular policies (“my successful economic policies”), European populations feel confident to judge their politicians to be incompetent or even deceitful.
Fourth, the media structure has become much more favorable to political challengers. Until at least the 1980s the established parties controlled most of the important media in Europe, be it party-owned newspapers or state radio and television controlled by parties-appointed boards. While active censorship was rare, most journalists self-censored stories that challenged the interests and values of the political mainstream. Consequently, critique of immigration or European integration was long marginalized, while major corruption, particularly involving elites from several established parties, was left uncovered. This is no longer possible in a world dominated by party-independent, private media and an uncontrollable Internet. Not only do all stories and voices find an outlet, populist stories and voices are particularly attractive to a media dominated by an economic logic. After all, scandals and controversy sell!
Finally, while the previous four factors have created a fertile breeding ground and favorable ‘discursive opportunity structure’ for populists, the success of populist parties like the FN or SYRIZA is also related to the fact that populist actors have become much more “attractive” to voters (and media). Almost all successful populist parties have skillful people at the top, including media-savvy leaders like Beppe Grillo (M5S), Pablo Iglesias (Podemos), or Geert Wilders (PVV). They can not only hold their own in political debates with leaders of established parties, but they are often much more adept at exploiting the huge potential of new resources, such as social media. For example, for years Wilders dominated the Dutch political debate purely through Twitter. Just one well-constructed tweet would be picked up by journalists, who would then force established politicians to respond, and thereby helped Wilders set the political agenda and frame the political debate.
If you enjoyed this article then please consider liking Can Europe Make it? on Facebook and following us on Twitter @oD_Europe A slightly longer version of this article was published in Greek in The Books’ Journal, Vol.55, May 2015.
About Cas Mudde
Cas Mudde is associate professor in the School of Public and International Affairs at
the University of Georgia (USA). He is the author of Populist
Radical Right Parties in Europe (2007) and editor ofYouth and the
Extreme Right (2014), Political
Extremism (2014), andPopulism
in Europe and Latin America: Corrective or Threat for Democracy? (2012).
He is a member of the Scholars
Strategy Network and can be followed on Twitter at @casmudde.
Articles by Cas Mudde
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Overcoming the European refugee crisis
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To achieve anything in politics, including changing the
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EU President Herman van Rompuy has called populism "the
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While the Conservative victory is remarkable, it is a mere
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Populism and liberal democracy: is Greece the
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GALANOPOULOS 29 April 2015
Cas Mudde - one of the most distinguished scholars in the
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MUDDE 7 January 2015
It is comforting and politically expedient to claim that
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Liberal democracy: the do’s and don’ts of
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The most prominent case is the extreme right political party
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Could the political success of the European Conservatives
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Is Gerry Adams an Irish Nelson Mandela?
DONALD M.
BEAUDETTE and CAS MUDDE 7 May
2014
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A new (order) Ukraine? Assessing the relevance
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The myth of Weimar Europe
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The European elite's politics of fear
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EU elite’s position on European democracy – it should stop.
America's election and the Tea Party
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MUDDE 9 November 2012
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period, says Cas Mudde.
Flemish nationalism: a new landscape
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MUDDE 15 October 2012
The results of Belgium's local elections has brought victory
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democratic New Flemish Alliance. This represents the transformation of Flemish
nationalism, says Cas Mudde.
The Dutch elections and the Eurosceptic paradox
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to come.
Dutch elections, European consequences
CAS
MUDDE 12 September 2012
The combination of economic troubles and Eurosceptic
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election, says Cas Mudde.
America’s new revolutionaries
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MUDDE 3 September 2012
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crossroads is widespread across the political spectrum. But among parts of the
right the view takes worrying directions, says Cas Mudde.
Norway’s democratic example
CAS
MUDDE 28 August 2012
The process and result in the trial of Anders Breivik are a
vindication of Norway’s liberal democracy and a lesson for the world, says Cas
Mudde.
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MUDDE 13 August 2012
The perpetrator of the latest mass shooting in the United
States has been compared to Timothy McVeigh and Anders Breivik. But a closer
understanding of his motives and actions is needed before making this
connection, says Cas Mudde.
Norway's atrocity: a story of non-impact
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MUDDE 20 April 2012
The immediate reactions to the terrorist attack in Oslo in
July 2011 were both politicised and inaccurate. The opening of the
perpetrator's trial nine months later finds leading ideological positions
still full of evasion, says Cas Mudde.
Europe: from crisis to opportunity
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MUDDE 8 December 2011
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Union on a new course - but this must have explicit popular consent at its
heart, says Cas Mudde.
Europe's crisis and the radical right
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MUDDE 16 November 2011
The severe economic upheaval in Europe has not been matched
by a political resurgence of the radical right. Cas Mudde asks why - and
whether the dog could yet bark.
Occupy Wall Street: lessons and opportunities
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MUDDE 12 October 2011
The Occupy movement in the United States is both similar to
and different from its Tea Party predecessor. The precise combination gives it
political space to grow, says Cas Mudde.
9/11: more security, less secure
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MUDDE 10 September 2011
The world has been changed by the securitisation of everyday
life and the Islamisation of security. The accompanying threat-complex has
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Norway’s catastrophe: democracy beyond fear
CAS
MUDDE 27 July 2011
The political response to atrocity often misjudges its
character in ways that lead to further violations. This makes it all the more
important that reaction to the bombing and massacre in Norway is based on
careful assessment, says Cas Mudde.
Geert Wilders and Dutch democracy
CAS
MUDDE 24 June 2011
A court in the Netherlands has found the influential
politician Geert Wilders innocent of charges of fomenting hatred and
discrimination against Muslims. The decision is a challenge both to the rule of
law and to Dutch politicians, says Cas Mudde.
European integration: after the fall
CAS
MUDDE 24 May 2011
The financial crisis that has swept across European
economies since 2008 is having profound political effects. It is time to face
the new realities and discuss the options they present, says Cas Mudde.
CAS
MUDDE 26 April 2011
In 2050, Europe has overcome the birth pains of
multiculturalism and is accepting its diversity as a welcome given, rather than
an imposed ideal or a frightening future. Open debate is finally embraced, and
opponents are seen neither as criminals nor as enemies. Nothing is sacred, all
is questioned, and former taboos like Islam or the royal family are discussed
freely by both politicians and comedians.
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The new new radical right: spectre and reality
CAS
MUDDE 20 April 2011
The emergence of a fresh current on Europe's political
right, typified by figures such as Geert Wilders, is being widely discussed.
But historically informed scrutiny suggests a different view, says Cas Mudde.
The intolerance of the tolerant
CAS
MUDDE 21 October 2010
The advance of populist anti-Islamic forces in the liberal
bastions of northern Europe - Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden - appears to
reflect a betrayal of these societies’ renowned social tolerance. But there is
a more subtle logic at work, says Cas Mudde.
The Geert Wilders enigma
CAS
MUDDE 23 June 2010
The high-profile Dutch politician Geert Wilders is closer to
mainstream centre-right politics in the Netherlands than his hardline rhetoric
about Islam might suggest, says Cas Mudde.
Neo-conservatism:
Irving Kristol’s living legacy
CAS
MUDDE 23 September 2009
The pioneer of one of the United States’s most potent
intellectual-political currents has died. But it is far too early for an
obituary of the neo-conservative movement or its ideas