From Fringe to Forefront: Understanding Populist Parties and their Growing Influence in European Politics

The rise and electoral success of populist parties all throughout Europe, with far-right governments in place in Eastern, Northern, Southern and Western Europe, and also beyond has been alarming to political scientists who have observed the trend and warned of the consequences to liberal democracies. As the political landscape evolves, understanding the dynamics and impact of these parties is thus crucial.

The workshop will address both more general conceptual issues such as studying populist parties as a phenomenon of the political right and left and will take a look at selected cases from Europe and Germany in particular that showcase the specific characteristics of the populist tide. The workshop aims to deepen understanding of the rise of populist parties in Europe but also in many other regions of the world through the analysis of cases from various countries, encompassing parties across the political spectrum from left to right, and their stance on the upcoming European Parliamentary elections. Experts from 10 countries will discuss such key issues as participation, non-voters, the role of elites and transnational populist movements, among others. With the European parliamentary elections coming up in June, discussing the growing influence of populist parties is timely and necessary to deepen our knowledge and identify strategies for making democracies more resilient.