Reinhard Heinisch, University of Salzburg
Radical populism represents the greatest challenge to liberal democracy across Europe. The emergence of this phenomenon has impacted both established democracies, such as the United Kingdom, when we think of Brexit, and new democracies, such as Hungary and Poland. Populist actors have also played a role in the COVID pandemic and in the context of Russia's war on Ukraine, as they mobilize people against mainstream policies that attempt to manage these crises. Despite the general importance of populism as a political phenomenon, including at the EU level, its history and impact vary widely across Europe. It is important to understand the specific causes and effects of the success of populism because not all forms of political radicalism or authoritarianism are populist. The talk will address these questions and show that populism is closely related to the decline in legitimacy of established institutions and traditional elites in times of social and economic change. Drawing especially on the case of Austria, where radical populism has been long established, the lecture and discussion will provide an overview of this phenomenon and the state of political science research