How we can reframe the debate about Europe’s populist threat

Is Europe facing a lurch toward populism and, if so, does this trend pose a threat for democracy? Richard Youngs writes that it is important to recognise the diversity among parties that have been labelled ‘populist’, rather than simply regarding all movements of this nature as negative developments. He argues that there is no merit in simply deriding the choices of people who voted for Brexit, Donald Trump, or other European populist parties, and that it is necessary to unpack the different dynamics at work in the shift toward anti-establishment politics.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: There is legitimate anger at the EU, and then there is populism and nationalism http://www.europeansources.info/record/there-is-legitimate-anger-at-the-eu-and-then-there-is-populism-and-nationalism/

ESO: Background information: Brexit and Europe's new insurgent parties http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-world-according-to-europes-insurgent-parties-putin-migration-and-people-power-which-country-is-next-after-the-uk/

ESO: Background information: Does Brexit Mean the Future Is President Trump? http://www.europeansources.info/record/does-brexit-mean-the-future-is-president-trump/

ESO: Background information: Populism And Social Democracy’s Distress http://www.europeansources.info/record/populism-and-social-democracys-distress/

ESO: Background information: Brexit and the Rise of Rejectionism http://www.europeansources.info/record/brexit-and-the-rise-of-rejectionism/

Carnegie Europe: Strategic Europe, 23.11.16: Judy Asks: Is Populism Here to Stay? http://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/66236

Social Europe, 30.11.16: Containing The Populist Contagion https://www.socialeurope.eu/2016/11/containing-populist-contagion/

Pew Research Centre: Fact Tank, 06.12.16: 4 factors driving anti-establishment sentiment in Europe http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/12/06/4-factors-driving-anti-establishment-sentiment-in-europe/

---