Working papers on the Triggers of Populism – DEMOS project

These working papers are based on empirical research led by ELIAMEP, in variable sets of European democracies. They formulate research hypotheses, centred on the diversity of the populist phenomenon, employ qualitative and/or quantitative research techniques, summarise and comment upon research findings and attempt to construct policy recommendations grounded in their findings. They depart from and expand upon the core idea of DEMOS, namely that populism is not a uniform phenomenon and that the response of European democracies and the EU itself, currently facing populist challenges, cannot be uniform either, but must be adapted to the multiple varieties and manifestations of populism.

The following two Working Papers were co-authored by Dimitris Sotiropoulos and Emmanouil Tsatsanis among others:

Working Paper (April 2020): Populist Communication on Social Media

This working paper presents the findings of quantitative and qualitative research into populist communication on Facebook. Specifically, it looks at how populist politicians from all across Europe used Facebook in their campaigns for the European Parliamentary elections in May 2019 and compare this with posts from July 2019.

Working Paper (June 2020): Populist Parties in Contemporary Europe

This paper examines sixteen European populist parties and movements across the continent and argues that while all adhere to the standard populist framework, there is not one but four populisms in contemporary Europe. It demonstrates the argument by positioning the case selection against the following dichotomies: exclusionary v. inclusionary populism, authoritarian v. non-authoritarian populism, strong nativist v. weak nativist populism, and radical democratic v. conspiratorial populism and, based on these variables, introduces four types of party populism: (1) radical right-wing populist parties; (2) radical left-wing populists; (3) illiberal (post-communist) populist parties; (4) anti-establishment populists and political entrepreneurs.