Summary

Summary all lectures of Political Parties, Origins, Transformations and Future Prospects

1 purchase

Course
Political Parties, Origins, Transformations and Future Prospects (MANBCU2024)

Institution
Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen (RU)

English summary of all lectures of Political Parties, Origins, Transformations and Future Prospects - Political Science at Radboud University.

[Show more]

Preview 4 out of 68 pages

View example

Uploaded on September 7, 2020
Number of pages 68
Written in 2019/2020
Type Summary

political science
politicologie
political parties

Institution
Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen (RU)
Education
Politicologie
Course
Political Parties, Origins, Transformations and Future Prospects (MANBCU2024)

daphnehermsen

Member since 6 year 169 documents sold

$6.10

Add to cart

Save

100% satisfaction guarantee
Immediately available after payment
Both online and in PDF
No strings attached

Political Parties, Origins, Transformations and Future Prospects Lectures

Lecture 1 “Introduction” 4-11-19

Parties are inevitable. You cannot have a representative democracy without political parties.

They are necessary but also hated.

Lecture 2 “Populism” 7-11-19

What to remember:

- “different definitions of populism”
- “an understanding of the variety of populism that exist”
- “an understanding of measuring populism”
- “some ideas about the causes of populism”
- “some ideas about the influence or implications of populism”

Why begin with populism:

- Party systems are under change (so it seems)
- An important piece in the puzzle is populism (so it seems)
- However, is this the case?
o Are party systems under change?
o What role does populism play in this?

First issue:

- What is populism?
- Why is this such a difficult question to address?
o It is not, but it is made more difficult than it is (according to Andrej)
o Due in part to the diversity of parties and leaders
o Populism seems to cut in different directions (both left and right-wing populists)
o It does not seem to fit with our usual spatial considerations
o Also due to the misuse of populism
 That is what confuses us about populism and what it is exactly
 Doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have logic, that it can’t be clear

Definitions of populism:

- Populism as giving the people what they want
o ‘political ideas and activities that are intended to get the support of ordinary people
by giving them what they want’  Andrej disagrees with this definition, it is more
than this. Besides, you can fit (almost) all parties in this definition. This doesn’t
differentiate populism from other parties.

1

,- Populism as a strategy
o Strategy (Weyland)
 Personalized leadership (this is not distinct for populism)
 Goal of obtaining power (populism as a mean to achieve this)
 Resting on mass support
 Based on unmediated leadership: lots of referenda, mass demonstrations
(personalized leadership is linked to the masses in an unmediated way. It is a
direct appeal, they speak for the people, ‘I am you’)
 They have no systemic ideology or program: goal is to mobilize voters and to
obtain political power
o This is more Latin American oriented.

- Populism as a style (Moffit and Tormey)
o Performative: how they act, what they do (not so much what they say)
o Language: the language that they use
o The way they dress
o The way they act
o Tensions between high and low culture (Ostiguy 2017)  populism is this tension
 Example: Michelle Obama with sushi versus Trump with hamburgers (what
they fed teenagers who visited the white house)
 This is a part of populism but still not the core, according to Andrej

- Populism as an ideology (set of ideas)
o Thin centered ideology: works different than other ideologies. Full ideologies have a
full program, in the sense that their ideologies cover most of the important policy
terrains. Thin centered ideologies isn’t broad enough, it doesn’t have a full coverage.
Nationalism is another example of this  so it has to attach to other ideologies. For
example it attaches to the left or right, this is not the core of the populism
o = Ideational approach
o Three characteristics:
 Pure (ordinary) people versus corrupt elite  there has to be a tension and
distinction.
 Corrupt elite can be literately corrupt but also symbolically corrupt.
 It is the political class. Politics itself is corrupt. They are corrupted by
ideology. It makes it so complicated, just listen to the people.
 Populist politicians say that they reluctantly are in politics, just to
save the people (so they are not part of the corrupt politics,
according to them).
 Manichean (antagonistic): = tension between good and evil
 Antagonism: us against them, people against elite.
 General will: the pure people have this general will. Populists should and do
represent this.
 Only when these three characteristics are together then it is populism, not just when there is
one of the three

2

, o Who are the people?: everyday, silent minority, heartland, basis of the community,
people seen as homogenous

Populism versus Demoticism:

- We need to make a distinction between populism and demoticism (March, 2017)
- Demoticism: closeness to the people; using common language; being part of the people
- “what passes for ‘mainstream’ or ‘thin’ populist is not really populism at all but demoticism
(closeness to ordinary people), which is necessary but by no means sufficient for populism.”

Characteristics of populism:

- How to measure?
- Data: 250 parties on key attributes related to populism, political style, party ideology and
party organization. Expert survey conducted in 28 European countries.
- What is an expert survey?
o You ask experts (academics) a series of questions on party positions
o The experts are instructed to rate the parties on these dimensions  so it is their
judgements
o The mean of the experts is used to represent the position of the party on the
designated dimension
- How to measure populism?  it is a latent variable (it consists of different aspects)

It is not about if you are populist or not, it is about how populist you are, it is a scale.

Conclusions:

- Populism tends to found more on the extremes (of left and right)
- Populism can attach to different ideologies

How do we proceed:

- Populism is a latent variable
- Populism must be different than other attitudes (the not populisms)
- There should be some form of external validity

 You can measure populism among individuals.
 Populism is a distinct attitude.

3

, Seminar:

What causes populism?: there has to be systematic problems with the elite, such as
corruption/collusion

The elite doesn’t have to be national, it can also be ‘the EU’

The opposite of populism is: unclear, you can argue about it. Could be both or neither:

- Elitism/technocracy
- Pluralism: this is what the lecturer thinks, because some populists like Baudet support a
technocratic government, because these will then fulfill the public will. (pluralism =
heterogeneous society, appreciates societal divisions)

Populism can be seen as anti-democratic: they see people as homogenous so they are more likely to
become totalitarian. They often feel like they have the only right answer so there is no need for
democracy and debate.

Lecture 3 “radical politics” 11-11-19

(belongs to lecture 2)

- Populism is something that unites different types of parties
- There is a populist attitude that goes beyond vote choice
- That might say something about the current state of politics
- Populism is perhaps not the most important part of the vote choice

The causes of populism:

- N.b. not the radical right but populism
- Article for this week made the claim that they (the attitudes) are present and need to be
triggered
o What is the core of populism: people centered notions of political representation
- Other reasons:
o More critical of authority
o We talk more about populism: supply side
o Democracy is the only game in town
o Complexity: our societies and democracy has become more complex and rule based
o Mainstream parties have weaker stories: populism is an answer; as a coping
mechanism

Influence of populism:

- We need to make a distinction between populism, populist actors and non-populists
- Have mainstream parties become more populist? Research says not
- Does this mean that is has nog had an influence?
o Could affect it in different ways: demoticism perhaps

4

The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.

Quick and easy check-out

You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.

Focus on what matters

Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!

Frequently asked questions

What do I get when I buy this document?

You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.

Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?

Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.

Who am I buying these notes from?

Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller daphnehermsen. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.

Will I be stuck with a subscription?

No, you only buy these notes for $6.10. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.

Can Stuvia be trusted?

4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)

66184 documents were sold in the last 30 days

Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 15 years now

Start selling

Seller

Other ·

Summary

Summary all lectures of Political Parties, Origins, Transformations and Future Prospects

Document information

Subjects

Written for