The Impact of Populism on the Party System

Analyzes the influence of populism on the development and transformation of parties and party systems in seven European countries between 2000 and 2020. 

The Impact of Populism on the Party System: The Experience of European Democracies (2000–2020) analyzes the influence of populism on the development and transformation of parties and party systems in Hungary, Poland, Greece, Germany, Spain, Czechia, and France in the first two decades of the twenty-first century. In individual case studies, the international team of authors asks to what extent the rise of populist parties witnessed during the period in question caused increased polarization and ideological distance between parties in a given country, and whether this polarization led to a transformation in party system. Moderate party systems can be transformed into polarized party systems under the influence of populism, with a high degree of polarization affecting the functioning of the entire democratic regime. In extreme cases, the very democratic essence of European political regimes may be threatened.