The Resurgence of Populism: An Examination into the Conditions That Allow for the Rise of Populist Parties in Europe and the United States

Abstract

This paper seeks to understand the conditions that have led to the rise of populism across Europe and in the United States. To that end, this paper sets about defining the term populism, which it concludes to be a mode of articulation that divides the political sphere between a construction of the people, pitted against a construction of some ‘other’ most often political elites. It will also be determined that populism today is largely a response to the dominant ideology of liberal democracy which encompasses most of western society. This paper then takes a look at what main issues are said to be most salient to the success of populism in its opposition to liberal democracy, and will identify immigration, economic issues, Euroscepticism, gatekeeping issues, and the use of media as the most relevant issues. Populist actors from the countries of Austria, France, Italy and the United States will then be examined in context of these issues to see which are most important in understanding their success. Ultimately, this paper will find immigration and gatekeeping issues to be the most important in understanding the success and failure of populist actors in these countries, and conclude that populism arises the strongest in areas where the decision making capabilities of national governments are constrained in some way