Politik von Unten

What characterises the phenomenon of populism, and how has it developed in recent decades? In this study, Edward Weber addresses these questions using quantitative longitudinal analyses of three areas of investigation: the responsiveness of political elites, populism among citizens and populism in party political discourse. Although the study is based on data from Switzerland, it is also relevant for West European countries in general. Its findings demonstrate that populism constantly accompanies democracy and that today’s nationalist, conservative political parties are not populist because of their nationalist and conservative nature, but because they are relatively new and have not yet integrated themselves into the political establishment.