Populism
Etablissement : ESPOL European School of Political and Social Sciences
Langue : Anglais
Formation(s) dans laquelle/lesquelles le cours apparait :
- Licence Science politique – Parcours Européen [ECTS : 3,00]
Période : S6
This class will address the following main issues:
– concepts of populism (assessment of definitions and presentation of populism as a set of ideas)
– overview of populism amongst the masses and elites
– overview of populist forces in Europe, Latin America and the USA
– causes of populism
– consequences of populism, and most notably its ambivalent relationship with democracy
– implications of and responses to populism
This course aims to introduce students to some of the most relevant issues and debates revolving around populism, its causes and consequences. Readings and activities have been carefully selected to deepen students’ knowledge of specific cases. They are also designed to build more general critical thinking and analytical skills that students can use to form their own understanding of the relationship between populism and democracy, as well as present their views in both oral and written formats.
More generally, students will be able to:
– Competently engage in an academic discussion on the essence, the causes and the impact of populism.
– Link specific cases of populist mobilization or populist governance with general trends of socio-cultural and/or socio-economic change.
– Discuss the relationships between social structure, political culture and political insti- tutions in shaping the way populism (may) interact(s) with democracy.
– Develop a deeper understanding of logic and use of the comparative method: gather, organise and deploy evidence/data in a comparative perspective.
– Develop research, writing and presentation skills.
– Work independently, demonstrating initiative, self-organisation and time-management.
Populism has become a widely debated and well-researched theme. The term is often ill-defined and used in a pejorative manner, contributing to misconceptions and inaccurate interpretations of what is populism and, more importantly, what it is not. The course will introduce participants to an extensive conceptual, theoretical and empirical scholarship on populism. This will provide participants with a more precise understanding of the concept and allow for consideration of the various ways we can examine populism. Building on this, the course discusses instances of populism in various contexts and reflects on the ambivalent relationship between populism and democracy. Throughout this discussion, the course explicitly takes a comparative approach and relies both on quantitative and qualitative analyses in support of its discussions. Special attention will be paid to the core features of populism, such as anti-elitism and popular sovereignty, as well as its causes and consequences for democratic functioning.
In a time of increasing challenges to the core components of representative democracy, this course provides an introduction to populism in theory and practice, employing an increasingly consensual ideational approach to populism. It introduces participants to an extensive conceptual debate, historical and current populist forces, their characteristics, causes and consequences, as well as the often-ambivalent relationship between populism and democracy.
