Democracy's Resilience to Populism's Threat : Countering Global Alarmism / Kurt Weyland.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Weyland, Kurt Gerhard, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Populism.

Democracy.

Right-wing extremists--Europe.

Right-wing extremists.

Right-wing extremists--United States.

Comparative government.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 312 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, [2024]

Summary:

"This book demonstrates that populism's threat to democracy is less severe than often feared. The comprehensive, systematic analysis of contemporary Latin America and Europe over the last four decades and of the U.S. under Trump shows that populist chief executives destroy democracy only under special, restrictive conditions"-- Provided by publisher

The recent global wave of populist governments, which culminated in Donald Trump's victory in 2016, has convinced many observers that populism is a grave threat to democracy. In his new book, Kurt Weyland critiques recent scholarship for focusing too closely on cases where populist leaders have crushed democracy, and instead turns to the many cases where would populist-authoritarians have failed to overthrow democracy. Through a systematic comparative analysis of thirty populist chief executives in Latin America and Europe over the last four decades, Weyland reveals that populist leaders can only destroy democracy under special, restrictive conditions. Left-wing populists suffocate democracy only when benefitting from huge revenue windfalls, whereas right-wing populists must perform the heroic feat of resolving acute, severe crises. Because many populist chief executives do not face these propitious conditions, Weyland proves that despite populism's threat, democracy remains resilient

Contents:

The populist threat to democracy

How institutional constraints and conjunctural opportunities condition populism's threat to democracy

Neoliberal and right-wing populism in Latin America

"Bolivarian" and left-wing populism in Latin America

Right-wing and traditionalist populism in Europe

Right-wing populism in the USA : Trump in comparative perspective

Conclusion : theoretical and comparative implications

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 12 Jan 2024).

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781009432474

1009432478

9781009432498

1009432494

9781009432504

1009432508