May 5, 2012

The False Allure of Populism

Jan-Werner Mueller, The Guardian

AP Photo

It has become conventional wisdom: populist parties are on the rise across Europe, from left (Jean-Luc Mélenchon) to right (Marine Le Pen), and in widely different national and local contexts – from Bradford to Budapest. But while the "P-word" is ubiquitous in political analysis, most observers would be hard pressed to define where exactly legitimate democratic politics stops and pernicious populism begins.

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TAGGED: Europe

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