Monthly Archives: May 2014

How to Perform Crisis: A Model for Understanding the Key Role of Crisis in Contemporary Populism, Benjamin Moffitt

Research Papers & Analysis

Abstract

A focus on crisis is a mainstay of the literature on contemporary populism. However, the links between populism and crisis remain under-theorized and undeveloped. This article puts forward a novel perspective for understanding this relationship, arguing that crisis does not just trigger populism, but that populism also attempts to act as a trigger for crisis. This is because crises are always mediated and ‘performed’. The article presents a six-step model of how populist actors ‘perform’ crisis, drawing on empirical examples from Europe, Latin America, North America and the Asia-Pacific region. It explains how the performance of crisis allows populist actors to pit ‘the people’ against a dangerous other, radically simplify the terrain of political debate and advocate strong leadership. It ultimately suggests that we should move from thinking of crisis as something purely external to populism, towards thinking about the performance of crisis as an internal core feature of populism.

Government and Opposition / FirstView ArticleCopyright, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/gov.2014.13. Published online: 29 May 2014

And it’s good night Vienna. How (not) to deal with the populist radical right: The Conservatives, UKIP and some lessons from the heartland, Oliver Grubera & Tim Baleb

Research Papers & Analysis

Abstract

Mainstream parties across Europe have been struggling for some time to counter the appeal of the populist radical right. With the rise of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), the British Conservative Party is now facing a similar challenge. We argue that, since this is the case, it makes sense to ask whether there are lessons it can learn from other countries – in particular Austria, where the centre-right People’s Party (ÖVP) has been competing against the populist radical right (most obviously, the Freedom Party) for almost three decades. In the course of so doing, the ÖVP has tried many ways to deal with the threat posed: treating the populist radical right as a pariah; adopting some of its policies and rhetoric; inviting it into coalition government; and finally pursuing a ‘dual-track’ approach. We evaluate each strategy in turn and find that none of them has enjoyed huge or lasting success. We conclude that the Conservatives need to realise that UKIP is not so much a problem to be solved as a situation to be managed. Seeking to toughen the Tory stance on immigration and asylum is unlikely to pay electoral dividends and carries with it considerable downsides in terms of the party’s credibility and reputation, as well as in terms of public policy. Moreover, even if a more restrictive stance does not prove entirely pointless or (worse) positively counterproductive, it imposes opportunity costs the Conservative Party should think twice before paying. All this suggests the value of a comparative approach to those wanting to understand the new dynamics in British politics.

British Politics (2014) 9, 237–254. doi:10.1057/bp.2014.7; published online 19 May 2014, http://www.palgrave-journals.com/bp/journal/v9/n3/full/bp20147a.html