PO 480

Rise of Populism

The seminar explores populist politics and rhetoric by addressing the following questions: What is populism? Why is it so hard to define it? Are there significant regional and historical differences between left and right populism? What are the similarities and differences between populism and nationalism? And, finally, is populism a threat or corrective to liberal democracy? The main sociological and political approaches to populism will first be reviewed. Then, we will empirically examine these topics through the range of comparative country cases covering different regions in the world. Prerequisites: Registration Status: Year 4 Honours Political Science. Exclusions: PO498L.