The renowned historian Ivan T. Berend discusses populist demagoguery through the presentation of eighteen politicians from twelve European countries spanning World War I to the present. Berend defines demagoguery, reflects on its connections with populism, and examines the common features and differences in the demagogues’ programs and language. Mussolini and Hitler, the “model demagogues,” are only briefly discussed, as is the election of Donald Trump in the United States and its impact on Europe. The eighteen detailed portraits include two communists, two fascists, and several right-wing and anti-EU politicians, extending across the full range of demagoguery. The author covers Béla Kun, the leader of the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919, weaving through Codreanu and Gömbös from the 1930s, on to Stahremberg and Haider in Austria, and then more broadly throughout Europe from Ceaușescu, Milošević, Tuđjman, Izetbegović, Berlusconi, Wilders, to the two Le Pens, Farage, and Boris Johnson, Orbán and the two Kaczyńskis. Each case includes an analysis of the time and place and is illustrated with quotations from the demagogues’ speeches. This book is a warning about the continuing threat of populist demagogues both for their subjects and for history itself. Berend insists on the crucial importance for Europe to understand the reality behind their promises and persuasive language as imperative to impeding their success.

A New York Times Book Review Editor's Pick What Happens to Democracy When a Demagogue Comes to Power? "It is hard to imagine understanding the Trump presidency and its significance without reading this book.” —Bob Bauer, Former Chief Counsel to President Barack Obama What—and who—is a demagogue? How did America’s Founders envision the presidency? What should a constitutional democracy look like—and how can it be fixed when it appears to be broken? Something is definitely wrong with Donald Trump’s presidency, but what exactly? The extraordinary negative reaction to Trump’s election—by conservative intellectuals, liberals, Democrats, and global leaders alike—goes beyond ordinary partisan and policy disagreements. It reflects genuine fear about the vitality of our constitutional system. The Founders, reaching back to classical precedents, feared that their experiment in mass self-government could produce a demagogue: a charismatic ruler who would gain and hold on to power by manipulating the public rather than by advancing the public good. President Trump, who has played to the mob and attacked institutions from the judiciary to the press, appears to embody these ideas. How can we move past his rhetoric and maintain faith in our great nation? In The Demagogue’s Playbook, acclaimed legal scholar Eric A. Posner offers a blueprint for how America can prevent the rise of another demagogue and protect the features of a democracy that help it thrive—and restore national greatness, for one and all. “Cuts through the hyperbole and hysteria that often distorts assessments of our republic, particularly at this time.” —Alan Taylor, winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for History

Focused on the emergence of US President Donald Trump, the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union, and the recruitment of Islamic State foreign fighters from Western Muslim communities, this book explores the ways in which the decay and corruption of key social institutions has created a vacuum of intellectual and moral guidance for working people and deprived them of hope and an upward social mobility long considered central to the social contract of Western liberal democracy. Examining the exploitation of this vacuum of leadership and opportunity by new demagogues, the author considers two important yet overlooked dimensions of this new populism: the mobilization of both religion and masculinity. By understanding religion as a dynamic social force that can be mobilized for purposes of social solidarity and by appreciating the sociological arguments that hyper-masculinity is caused by social injury, Roose considers how these key social factors have been particularly important in contributing to the emergence of the new demagogues and their followers. Roose identifies the challenges that this poses for Western liberal democracy and argues that states must look beyond identity politics and exclusively rights-based claims and, instead, consider classical conceptions of citizenship.

Recent elections around the world have been shaped by populism, where flamboyant politicians gather large crowds and campaign on behalf of "the common people." From Brexit to Donald Trump to countless other movements in Europe and the Americas, populism has changed the political conversation, often to the far right. From its origins in farmers' and workers' movements in the 19th century, we find countless populist politicians, right, left, center and beyond, using humble credentials, sometimes for and sometimes against the interests of "the people." In the end, the story of populism is the story of democracy: its transformations, its strengths, and at times its greatest threats. Media literacy terms and questions round out this collection to engage readers beyond the text.

Populism, Demagoguery, and Rhetoric in Historical Perspective explores the connections between contemporary populism, populist rhetoric, and a wide range of thinkers and topics in the history of political thought, from the ancient to the modern world. Throughout the volume, contributors demonstrate links between contemporary populism and the tradition of rhetoric, as well as new connections between populism and demagoguery, a phenomenon that has been discussed by political theorists and philosophers since antiquity. With this wide range of connections in mind, the volume draws on diverse perspectives and methodologies to theorize populist politics in historical perspective, and to enrich the debate surrounding it.

This handbook presents the roots of symbolic racism as partly in both anti-black antagonism and non-racial conservative attitudes and values, representing a new form of racism independent of older racial and political attitudes. By doing so, it homes in on certain historical incidents and episodes and presents a cogent analysis of anti-black, Jim Crowism, anti-people of color (Black, Latino, Native Americans), and prejudice that exists in the United States and around the world as a central tenet of racism. The book exposes the reader to the nature and practice of stereotyping, negative bias, social categorization, modern forms of racism, immigration law empowerment, racialized incarceration, and police brutality in the American heartland. It states that several centuries of white Americans’ negative socializing culture marked by widespread negative attitudes toward African Americans, are not eradicated and are still rife. Further, the book provides a panoramic view of trends of racial discrimination and other negative and desperate challenges that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color face across the world. Finally, the volume examines xenophobia, racism, prejudice, and stereotyping in different contexts, including topics such as Covid-19, religion and racism, information manipulation, and populism. The book, therefore, is a must-read for students, researchers, and scholars of political science, psychology, history, sociology, communications/media studies, diplomatic studies, and law in general, as well as ethnic and racial studies, American politics, global affairs, populism, and discrimination in particular.

This book shows how a multidisciplinary approach combining conceptual and methodological tools from political history and political science can help to develop a deeper understanding of contemporary political phenomena including democracy, populism, war, and forced migrations, among others. Throughout the eleven chapters, the volume brings together senior academics and early-career scholars to explore this innovative approach through a broad range of case studies which are not specific to any particular nation but are characteristic of contemporaneity worldwide. Both the international character and the interdisciplinary appeal of this book are reinforced by the fact that the editors and contributors come from different countries and diverse academic traditions. This book is aimed at scholars, researchers and postgraduate students interested in interdisciplinary approaches and working on politics and global phenomena in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Over the early 21st century, democracy worldwide has deteriorated significantly. At the same time, new populist forces have appeared that challenge democracies through legal reforms. The stark contrast between Eastern and Western Europe in this respect is the focus of this collection of essays. The authors consider the 2008-2012 economic crisis to be at the root of the success of the populist parties and the rise of cultural backlash against liberal values. In turn, European governments’ responses to the crisis—mainly austerity measures demanded by IMF and the EU— help explain desenchantment with the European Union. These policies made the wider public feel that they were being left out of politics, and populist parties promised to return power to them. The contributors argue that polarization of the electorate can set in motion a radicalization that strengthens authoritarians at the expense of democrats. They also demonstrate that Eastern and Western Europe differ in their attitudes to the decline in quality of democracy. The studies consider how satisfied people are with the political changes they witness, and argue that seemingly more authoritarian attitudes in the East explain why people feel more satisfied with a defective democracy that empowers the populist-authoritarian political actors that they support.

Around the globe, democracy is under assault. For a dozen years, global freedom has followed a downward slope, according to Freedom House. Once viewed as the world’s model of freedom, the United States has slipped in world ratings of democracy. For a rising portion of the world’s population, faith in democracy is flagging. At the same time, a wave of nationalism and xenophobia is rising in the West, questioning democracy’s ability to meet the needs of its citizens. The contributors to this volume examine democracy’s discontent from a variety of perspectives. What forces have produced the extreme partisanship and polarization roiling America’s civic life and politics? How has today’s populist movement challenged democratic norms and institutions? What role has social media played in democracy’s discontent and its defense? How do we overcome persistent racism in the face of emboldened White supremacist and anti-immigrant agitation? Across the pages of this book, teachers, teacher educators, and education policy makers will recognize a common theme in responding to democracy’s discontent – the need to rebuild the nation’s civic infrastructure. Research on best practices in civic learning and engagement serve as a guide to transforming how we prepare citizens for democratic deliberation and civic action. Creative and effective teaching materials and approaches await only the will to invest the needed time and support. Repairing our civic infrastructure will help to restore confidence in our civic capabilities and trust in our ability to work together for the public good. Without a serious recommitment to the civic mission of schools, the nation will be ill prepared to defend against those within and beyond our borders who are intent on undermining democracy.

Examining one of the most hotly debated topics in contemporary politics, media and academia, the Research Handbook on Populism brings together a diverse range of academics from across the globe to provide a detailed and comprehensive overview of the developing field of populism research.