Polarisation, Radicalisation, and Populism: Definitions and Hypotheses

Juan Russo

doi:10.22151/politikon.48.1

Authors

Juan Russo Universidad de Guanajuato

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.48.1

Keywords:

Leadership, Polarisation, Populism, Radicalisation, Radical Situation

Abstract

Since the beginning of this century, politics has been marked by processes of radicalisation, polarisation and the resurgence of populist governments. The emergence of these processes have made both the deficits of political representation and the problems of democratic vulnerability evident. This new situation has translated into the rise of personalist leaders located throughout the right-left ideological spectrum. This has happened on both sides of the Atlantic. However, the new establishment/anti-establishment fracture is more powerful than the right/left one. Similar processes sometimes have different natures. In this article, these processes are defined conceptually, establishing the relationships among them as well as their conceptual particularities. The comparative method is adopted, and the results consist in depicting, first, the differences and similarities between polarisation, radicalisation and populism, second, between contemporary and 1950s populism, and finally, between populism in Europe and in Latin America.

Author Biography

Juan Russo, Universidad de Guanajuato

Juan Russo holds a PhD in Political Science from Universitá di Firenze, Italy. Member SNI III, Conacyt. Full Professor in Comparative Politics, Universidad de Guanajuato, Mexico.

References

Aldrich, John H. 2011. Why Parties?: a second look. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Bartolini, Stefano. 1996. “Cosa è «competizione» in politica e come va studiata.” Italian Political Science Review/Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica 26 (2): 209-267. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0048840200024230.

Calise, Mauro 2000. Il partito personale: I due corpi del leader. Roma: Laterza.

Canovan, Margaret. 1981. Populism. New York and London: Harcoun Brace Jovanovich.

Dalton, Russell J. 2008. “The quantity and the quality of party systems: Party system polarization, its measurement, and its consequences.” Comparative Political Studies 41, no. 7: 899-920. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414008315860.

Downs, Anthony. 1957. “An economic theory of political action in a democracy.” Journal of political economy 65, no. 2: 135-150. https://doi.org/10.1086/257897.

De la Torre, Carlos, ed. 2019. Routledge handbook of global populism. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315226446.

Delich, Francisco. 1997. El desempleo de masas en Argentina. Buenos Aires: Norma.

Delich, Francisco. 2004. Repensar América Latina. Barcelona: Gedisa.

Fukuyama, Francis. 2018. Identity: The demand for dignity and the politics of resentment. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Germani, Gino. 1956. “La integración de las masas a la vida política y el totalitarismo”. Revista del Colegio Libre de Estudios Superiores XLVIII, 273 (junio): 153-176.

Germani, Gino. 1971. Política y sociedad en una época de transición. Buenos Aires: Paidós.

Germani, Gino. 1973. “El surgimiento del peronismo: el rol de los obreros y de los migrantes

internos”, Desarrollo Económico, XIII, 51: 435-488.

Germani, Gino. 1978. “Democracia y autoritarismo en la sociedad moderna”. In Gino Germani, la sociedad en cuestión, edited by Carolina Mera and Julián Rebón, 652-695. Buenos Aires: Clacso.

Gurr, R. Ted. 1970. Why men rebel. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Ionescu, Ghita and Ernest Gellner (Eds.). 1969. Populism: its meaning and national characteristics. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Latinobarómetro. 2015. Informe 1995-2015. Santiago de Chile: Corporación Latinobarómetro.

Layman, Geoffrey C., Thomas M. Carsey, and Juliana Menasce Horowitz. 2006. “Party polarization in American politics: Characteristics, causes, and consequences.” Annual Review of Political Science 9: 83-110. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.9.070204.105138.

Lupu, Noam. 2015. “Party polarization and mass partisanship: A comparative perspective.” Political Behavior 37, no. 2: 331-356. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-014-9279-z.

McCoy, Jennifer and Murat Somer. 2019. “Toward a theory of pernicious polarization and how it harms democracies: Comparative evidence and possible remedies.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 681(1), 234-271. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716218818782.

MacRae, Douglas. 1969. “Populism as an Ideology”. In Populism: its meaning and national characteristics, edited by Ghita Ionescu and Ernest Gellner, 153-165. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Mudde, Cas and Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser. “Voices of the peoples: Populism in Europe and Latin America compared.” Working Paper #378, Hellen Kellog Institue for International Studies, University of Notre Dame, 2011. https://kellogg.nd.edu/documents/1695.

Mudde, Cas and Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser. 2017. Populism: A very short introduction. Oxford: University Press.

Mouffe, Chantal. 2013. Agonistics: Thinking the world politically. London: Verso Books.

Panebianco, Angelo. 1982. Modelli di partito: organizzazione e potere nei partiti politici. Bologna: Il Mulino.

Panizza, Francisco. 2009. El populismo como espejo de la democracia. Mexico: Fondo de cultura económica.

Pitkin, Hanna F. 2017. Il concetto di rappresentanza. Milano: Rubbettino.

Rokkan, Stein. 2002. Stato, nazione e democrazia in Europa. Bologna: Il Mulino.

Rovira Kaltwasser, Cristóbal, Taggart, Paul, Ochoa Espejo, Paulina, and Pierre Ostiguy, eds. 2017. The Oxford handbook of populism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Russo, Juan. 2008. “Argentina: un sistema con vulnerabilidad asimétrica”. Revista mexicana de estudios electorales, no. 7: 13-43.

Sartori, Giovanni. 1966. “European political parties: the case of polarized pluralism”. In Political Parties and Political Development, edited by Joseph La Palombara and Myron Weiner, 137-176. Nueva Jersey: Princeton University Press.

Sartori, Giovanni. 1976. Parties and party systems: A framework for analysis. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Sartori, Giovanni. 1982. Teoria dei partiti e caso italiano. Milano: SugarCo.

Shils, Edwuard. 1996. The Torment of Secrecy: The Background and Consequences of American Security Policies. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee.

Taguieff, Pierre Andrè. 2003. L'illusione populista. Bologna: Pearson Italia Spa.

Tarchi, Marco. 2015. Italia populista: dal qualunquismo a Beppe Grillo. Bologna: Il Mulino.

Wiles, Peter. 1969. “A syndrome, not a doctrine: Some elementary theses on populism”. In Populism: Its meaning and national characteristics, edited by Ghita Ionescu and Ernest Gellner, 166-179. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.