SoSe 23: Populism: How to Study a Contested Concept
Bruno Castanho Silva
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"Populism" is a buzzword in Europe today. Across the continent, parties and politicians labeled as such make it into parliaments and governments, claiming to speak for marginalized social groups. At ... read more
"Populism" is a buzzword in Europe today. Across the continent, parties and politicians labeled as such make it into parliaments and governments, claiming to speak for marginalized social groups. At the same time, radical parties (especially the radical right) and nationalists have been a common phenomenon for decades, and there is much conceptual muddiness when using these terms. In this course we will discuss populism and how to study it in a social scientific way. We start from definitions, on what is populist discourse and how it differs from other types of group-based appeals. We then move to measurement, on how to capture populism both from the elites but also as attitudes among the public with mass surveys, and finally study how to understand the appeal of populism in contemporary Europe, and what social forces are behind such movements and parties. At the end, students will have a good understanding of one of the most pressing challenges to contemporary liberal democracies.
This course will combine different approaches of empirical analysis to the substantive question of populism in Europe today. Participants are expected to have a basic understanding of statistics and statistical analysis, as part of the class will involve hands-on activities with applied examples and data.
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