Four Decades of the Populist Radical Right in European Elections
| Published date | 01 March 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/20419058241238192 |
| Author | Mattia Zulianello |
| Date | 01 March 2024 |
32POLITICAL INSIGHT•MARCH 2024
Few political terms are as ubiquitous
as ‘populism’. Mass media, journalists,
and pundits have been increasingly
fond of talking about ‘populism’.
This is particularly the case in Europe, where
so-called populist parties are widely predicted
to perform strongly in June’s European
Parliament elections. For this reason, it is
important to explore how these parties have
performed in the past elections. But rst we
need to consider what we mean – and don’t
mean – by ‘populism’.
Varieties of populism
While the academic literature on populism
contains numerous approaches, the ‘ideational
approach’ has become prevalent in recent
years. This approach views populism as a set
Four Decades of the
Populist Radical Right
in European Elections
With the populist radical right widely expected to win major
victories in June’s European Parliament elections, Mattia Zulianello
explores the rise of these parties across the continent and traces
their evolution in comparison to other varieties of populism.
of ideas characterised by a Manichean and
irreconcilable conict between the ‘pure
people’ (people-centrism) and the ‘corrupt
elite’ (anti-elitism). From this perspective, the
ultimate purpose of politics is respecting and
glorifying the principle of ‘popular sovereignty’
(general will), whatever the cost.
According to the ideational approach,
populism is rst and foremost a moral
approach to politics, which separates the
good (the pure people) from the evil (the
corrupt elites). Unlike full ideologies such as
communism, fascism, or liberalism which –
at least in theory – aim to provide answers
to all the major political and societal issues,
© Roberto Monaldo / Alamy Stock Photo
Political Insight March 2024.indd 32Political Insight March 2024.indd 3219/02/2024 09:3119/02/2024 09:31
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