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Populism: Drivers, measurements and protectors

stmm. 2022 (4): 46-55

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/sociology2022.04.046

OLGA BUROVA, Candidate of Sciences in Sociology, Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Sociopolitical Processes, Institute of Sociology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (12, Shovkovychna St., Kyiv, 01021)

burova_olga@yahoo.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4149-8859

Populism is a fairly young concept. It does not have a single definition, neither does it have a single ideology. Populists can operate in a wide spectrum — from the extreme left to the extreme right. They gain popularity by focusing on issues important to large groups of the population that are avoided by the political elite. In Europe it is immigration issue, in the USA it is the loss of jobs in industry; in Ukraine it is low income, unequal opportunities, unfair distribution of wealth, and corruption. Recently, there has been growing support for populist parties and politicians. Populists, in particular, support traditional social values, nationalism, and oppose immigration. Populists can influence politics, for example, the populist United Kingdom Independence Party initiated a referendum in June 2016 on the UK's membership in the European Union, which resulted in the victory of the supporters of Brexit - the exit of the UK. As Professor Inglehart notes, populism is spreading as a response to the transformation of values, populism expresses a "rollback" from post-materialist values. Populist politicians are unsuccessfully trying to find a solution to the new challenges that have arisen as a result of globalization and the formation of an artificial intelligence society. Thus, Donald Trump's proposals are predominantly xenophobic and authoritarian in nature. Another American politician, Bernard Sanders, notes the solution to the acute problem of economic inequality, but the reforms he proposes are ineffective.

In this article, the author try to understand what this phenomenon is, what forms and drivers it has, and most importantly, how populism is measured in Europe and what examples of measurement there are in Ukraine. The results of a study in Ukraine presented in the article make it possible to identify trends of populism growth and find ways to oppose it.

Keywords: populism, democracy, political parties, responsibility of politicians, manipulative technologies, elites, public control, civil society institutions

References

Acemoglu, D., Autor, D., Dorn, D., Hanson, G.H., Price, B. (2016). Import competition and the great US employment sag of the 2000s. Journal of Labor Economics, 34(S1), 141–198. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1086/682384

Agerberg, M. (2017). Failed expectations: Quality of government and support for populist parties in Europe. European Journal of Political Research, 56(3), 578–600. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12203

Akkerman, A., Mudde, C., Zaslove, A. (2014). How populist are the people? Measuring populist attitudes in voters. Comparative Political Studies, 47(3), 1324–1353. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0010414013512600

Autor, D.H., Dorn, D. (2013). The growth of low-skill service jobs and the polarization of the US labor market. American Economic Review, 103(5), 1553–1597. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1257/aer.103.5.1553

Cassel, C.A. (2003). Overreporting and electoral participation research. American Politics Research, 31(1), 81–92. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1532673X02238581

Castanho Silva, B., Jungkunz, S., Helbling, M., Littvay, L. (2020). An empirical comparison of seven populist attitudes scales. Political Research Quarterly, 73(2), 409–424. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1065912919833176

Chapel Hill Expert Survey (s.a). Datasets on party positions across Europe. Retrieved from: https://www.chesdata.eu/ches-europe

Durden, Т. (2018). Geopolitical risk is back to Cold War highs. Zero Hedge. Retrieved from: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-15/geopolitical-risk-back-cold-warhighs

Henley, J. (2018). How populism emerged as an electoral force in Europe. The Guardian. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2018/nov/20/how-populism-emerged-as-electoral-force-in-europe

Inglehart, R., Haerpfer, C., Moreno, A., Welzel, C., Kizilova, K., Diez-Medrano, J. et al. (Eds.) (2014). World Values Survey: Round Six — Country-Pooled Datafile Version. Retrieved from: www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSDocumentationWV6.jsp

Lewis, P., Boseley, S., Duncan, P. (2019). Revealed: Populists far more likely to believe in conspiracy theories. The Guardian. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/01/revealed-populists-more-likely-believe-conspiracy-theories-vaccines

Mudde, C. (2004). The populist zeitgeist. Government and Opposition, 39(4), 542–563. DOI: 10.1111/j.1477-7053.2004.00135.x

Mudde, C., Rovira Kaltwasser, C. (2013). Exclusionary vs inclusionary populism: Comparing contemporary Europe and Latin America. Government and Opposition, 48(2), 147–174. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/gov.2012.11

Müller, J.-W. (2016). What is populism? Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Mykhailyshyna, D., Illiashenko, P., Yablonovskyi, D. (2019). How to make Ukrainians less vulnerable to populism? [Analytical report]. [In Ukrainian]. Kyiv: Centre for Economic Strategy. [Михайлишина, Д., Ілляшенко, П., Яблоновський, Д. (2019). Як зробити українців менш вразливими до популізму? [Аналітичний звіт]. Київ: Центр економічної стратегії].

Norris, P., Inglehart, R. (2019). Cultural backlash: Trump, Brexit, and authoritarian populism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Polk, J., Rovny, J., Bakker, R., Edwards, E., Hooghe, L., Jolly, S., Zilovic, M. (2017). Explaining the salience of anti-elitism and reducing political corruption for political parties in Europe with the 2014 Chapel Hill Expert Survey data. Research & Politics. Populism (s.a.). In: Google Trends. Retrieved from: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F01d_sm

Rodrik, D. (2018). Populism and the economics of globalization. Journal of International Business Policy, 1, 12–33. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1057/s42214-018-0001-4

Seth, J., Bakker, R., Hooghe, L., Marks, G., Polk, J., Rovny, J. et al. (2022). Chapel Hill Expert Survey trend file, 1999–2019. Electoral Studies, 75, 102420. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2021.102420

Surmin, Yu. (2009). The sociology of politics [In Ukrainian]. In Encyclopedic dictionary (p. 309). Kyiv, Ukraine: European University Press. [Сурмін, Ю. (2009). Соціологія політики. В: Енциклопедичний словник (с. 309). Київ: Видавництво Європейського університету].

Tacconi, M. (2019). Illiberal trend: Kaczynski’s Poland and the economic populism. Reset Dialogues. Retrieved from: https://www.resetdoc.org/story/illiberal-trend-kaczynskis-poland-soft-economic-populism/

van Kessel, S. (2015). Populist parties across Europe. In: S. van Kessel, Populist parties in Europe: Agents of discontent? (pp. 33–73). London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Received 14.11.2022

Populism: Drivers, measurements and protectors

stmm. 2022 (4): 46-55

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/sociology2022.04.046

OLGA BUROVA, Candidate of Sciences in Sociology, Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Sociopolitical Processes, Institute of Sociology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (12, Shovkovychna St., Kyiv, 01021)

burova_olga@yahoo.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4149-8859

Populism is a fairly young concept. It does not have a single definition, neither does it have a single ideology. Populists can operate in a wide spectrum — from the extreme left to the extreme right. They gain popularity by focusing on issues important to large groups of the population that are avoided by the political elite. In Europe it is immigration issue, in the USA it is the loss of jobs in industry; in Ukraine it is low income, unequal opportunities, unfair distribution of wealth, and corruption. Recently, there has been growing support for populist parties and politicians. Populists, in particular, support traditional social values, nationalism, and oppose immigration. Populists can influence politics, for example, the populist United Kingdom Independence Party initiated a referendum in June 2016 on the UK's membership in the European Union, which resulted in the victory of the supporters of Brexit - the exit of the UK. As Professor Inglehart notes, populism is spreading as a response to the transformation of values, populism expresses a "rollback" from post-materialist values. Populist politicians are unsuccessfully trying to find a solution to the new challenges that have arisen as a result of globalization and the formation of an artificial intelligence society. Thus, Donald Trump's proposals are predominantly xenophobic and authoritarian in nature. Another American politician, Bernard Sanders, notes the solution to the acute problem of economic inequality, but the reforms he proposes are ineffective.

In this article, the author try to understand what this phenomenon is, what forms and drivers it has, and most importantly, how populism is measured in Europe and what examples of measurement there are in Ukraine. The results of a study in Ukraine presented in the article make it possible to identify trends of populism growth and find ways to oppose it.

Keywords: populism, democracy, political parties, responsibility of politicians, manipulative technologies, elites, public control, civil society institutions

References

Acemoglu, D., Autor, D., Dorn, D., Hanson, G.H., Price, B. (2016). Import competition and the great US employment sag of the 2000s. Journal of Labor Economics, 34(S1), 141–198. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1086/682384

Agerberg, M. (2017). Failed expectations: Quality of government and support for populist parties in Europe. European Journal of Political Research, 56(3), 578–600. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12203

Akkerman, A., Mudde, C., Zaslove, A. (2014). How populist are the people? Measuring populist attitudes in voters. Comparative Political Studies, 47(3), 1324–1353. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0010414013512600

Autor, D.H., Dorn, D. (2013). The growth of low-skill service jobs and the polarization of the US labor market. American Economic Review, 103(5), 1553–1597. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1257/aer.103.5.1553

Cassel, C.A. (2003). Overreporting and electoral participation research. American Politics Research, 31(1), 81–92. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1532673X02238581

Castanho Silva, B., Jungkunz, S., Helbling, M., Littvay, L. (2020). An empirical comparison of seven populist attitudes scales. Political Research Quarterly, 73(2), 409–424. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1065912919833176

Chapel Hill Expert Survey (s.a). Datasets on party positions across Europe. Retrieved from: https://www.chesdata.eu/ches-europe

Durden, Т. (2018). Geopolitical risk is back to Cold War highs. Zero Hedge. Retrieved from: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-15/geopolitical-risk-back-cold-warhighs

Henley, J. (2018). How populism emerged as an electoral force in Europe. The Guardian. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2018/nov/20/how-populism-emerged-as-electoral-force-in-europe

Inglehart, R., Haerpfer, C., Moreno, A., Welzel, C., Kizilova, K., Diez-Medrano, J. et al. (Eds.) (2014). World Values Survey: Round Six — Country-Pooled Datafile Version. Retrieved from: www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSDocumentationWV6.jsp

Lewis, P., Boseley, S., Duncan, P. (2019). Revealed: Populists far more likely to believe in conspiracy theories. The Guardian. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/01/revealed-populists-more-likely-believe-conspiracy-theories-vaccines

Mudde, C. (2004). The populist zeitgeist. Government and Opposition, 39(4), 542–563. DOI: 10.1111/j.1477-7053.2004.00135.x

Mudde, C., Rovira Kaltwasser, C. (2013). Exclusionary vs inclusionary populism: Comparing contemporary Europe and Latin America. Government and Opposition, 48(2), 147–174. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/gov.2012.11

Müller, J.-W. (2016). What is populism? Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Mykhailyshyna, D., Illiashenko, P., Yablonovskyi, D. (2019). How to make Ukrainians less vulnerable to populism? [Analytical report]. [In Ukrainian]. Kyiv: Centre for Economic Strategy. [Михайлишина, Д., Ілляшенко, П., Яблоновський, Д. (2019). Як зробити українців менш вразливими до популізму? [Аналітичний звіт]. Київ: Центр економічної стратегії].

Norris, P., Inglehart, R. (2019). Cultural backlash: Trump, Brexit, and authoritarian populism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Polk, J., Rovny, J., Bakker, R., Edwards, E., Hooghe, L., Jolly, S., Zilovic, M. (2017). Explaining the salience of anti-elitism and reducing political corruption for political parties in Europe with the 2014 Chapel Hill Expert Survey data. Research & Politics. Populism (s.a.). In: Google Trends. Retrieved from: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F01d_sm

Rodrik, D. (2018). Populism and the economics of globalization. Journal of International Business Policy, 1, 12–33. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1057/s42214-018-0001-4

Seth, J., Bakker, R., Hooghe, L., Marks, G., Polk, J., Rovny, J. et al. (2022). Chapel Hill Expert Survey trend file, 1999–2019. Electoral Studies, 75, 102420. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2021.102420

Surmin, Yu. (2009). The sociology of politics [In Ukrainian]. In Encyclopedic dictionary (p. 309). Kyiv, Ukraine: European University Press. [Сурмін, Ю. (2009). Соціологія політики. В: Енциклопедичний словник (с. 309). Київ: Видавництво Європейського університету].

Tacconi, M. (2019). Illiberal trend: Kaczynski’s Poland and the economic populism. Reset Dialogues. Retrieved from: https://www.resetdoc.org/story/illiberal-trend-kaczynskis-poland-soft-economic-populism/

van Kessel, S. (2015). Populist parties across Europe. In: S. van Kessel, Populist parties in Europe: Agents of discontent? (pp. 33–73). London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Received 14.11.2022

LATEST PRINTED ISSUE

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