The Populist Wave
It is obvious to anyone even minimally informed that a
populist wave is sweeping across the western world. Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders in the U.S.,
Brexit in Europe and populist parties gaining strength in most European
countries, are recent examples of this populism. This write up summarizes briefly who the
parties and leaders of this movement are.
United States
Donald Trump won the election in face of massive media and
opinion opposition against him. He ran
as a republican, but it is evident that he is really neither conventional
republican nor democrat. He is in
process of choosing his cabinet in anticipation of resetting the country
dramatically from where it has been the last decade. His was an anti-establishment populist win of
the first order, as evidenced by the massive crowds he drew during the campaign
and the grass roots, rather than organized activity for him amongst the
populace.
Donald Trump
United Kingdom
As surprising as Trump’s win in the U.S., was Nigel Farage’s
and UKIP’s successful campaign in England to leave the European Union. In fact it came first and set the tone for
the U.S. populist revolt, to anyone who would listen. This was the elites in London and government
telling “the great unwashed” what was good for them, and the chaps in
Birmingham and Manchester responding with “up yours, mate”.
UKIP’s ideological approach is that of right-wing populism,
employing populist rhetoric to distinguish itself from the political
establishment. Promoting a British unionist and nationalist agenda, it
characterizes the latter approach as a non-racial civic nationalism. UKIP's
primary emphasis has been on hard Euroscepticism, calling for the UK's exit
from the European Union, while it has also placed strong emphasis on lowering
immigration. Economically describing itself as libertarian and influenced by
classical liberalism and Thatcherism, it promotes economically liberal policies
while appealing to traditional social values.
UKIP has one Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons and three
representatives in the House of Lords. It has 20 Members of the European
Parliament (MEP).
Nigel Paul Farage is a British politician who was the leader
of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and again from 2010 to
2016.[3] Since 1999 he has been a Member of the European Parliament for South
East England. He co-chairs the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy.
Nigel Farage
Ireland
Ireland, despite having some conditions favorable to the growth
of a right wing populist party has no such party. This is because the ‘space’
usually occupied by such parties – for young, poor people disaffected by
economic change – is taken up by Sinn Fein, which though it has similarities to
radical right parties, differs markedly in its attitudes to immigrants.
France
The National Front (FN) was founded in 1972 by Jean-Marie Le
Pen as an extremist neo Nazi party.
Under the leadership of Marine Le Pen, daughter, FN has pretty much lost
its neo Nazi and pro Vichy orientation and is now a socially conservative,
nationalist political party. Its major
policies include economic protectionism, a zero tolerance approach to law and
order issues, and opposition to mass immigration. FN came out in first place in
the last regional elections with a historic result of nearly 28% of the votes. Marine Le Pen would lead the first round of
the 2017 presidential elections, according to various polls. As of 2015, the FN
has established itself as one of the largest political forces in France. It currently has 2 seats in the French
parliament and 24 seats in the European parliament, but seeks to improve
substantially in the 2017 elections.
Marine Le Pen is the charismatic leader of FN. Described as more democratic and republican
than her nationalist father, she has led a movement of "de-demonization of
the Front National" to detoxify it and soften its image, expelling
controversial members accused of racism, antisemitism or pétainism (pro-Vichy
beliefs). She also expelled her father from the party after his new controversial
statements. She has relaxed some political and social positions of the party, such
as advocating for civil unions for same-sex couples instead of her party's
previous opposition to legal recognition of same-sex partnerships.
Marine Le Pen
Germany
Germany has several populist parties/movements, both right
and left wing.
The Alternative for
Germany (German: Alternative für Deutschland, AfD) is a right-wing populist and
Eurosceptic political party in Germany.
In 2014 the party won 7.1% of the votes and 7 out of 96 German seats in
the European election, and subsequently joined the European Conservatives and
Reformists (ECR) group. As of September 2016, the AfD had gained representation
in ten of the 16 German state parliaments. The party is currently led by Frauke
Petry and Jörg Meuthen. Afd is the
ascendant populist party in Germany, and has been compared to UKIP in England
and FN in France.
Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West
(Occident)), abbreviated Pegida, is a nationalist, anti-Islam, far-right
political movement that aims to resist what it sees as a threat posed by Islamic
extremism. It calls for the enforcement of existing laws to curb immigration. Pegida
was founded in October 2014 by Lutz Bachmann, who continues to be active in the
movement after some legal setbacks. Bachmann,
has set up a new political party, the Freiheitlich Direktdemokratische
Volkspartei ("Liberal Direct Democratic People's Party", or
"FDDV"). The FDDV was established on 13 June 2016. Pegida is "a mixed group—known figures
from the National Democratic Party of Germany, soccer hooligans, but also a
sizable number of ordinary citizens. The movement is strongest where people
have hardly any experience with foreigners, and among “easterners who never
really arrived in the Federal Republic and who now feel they have no voice.
The Left (German: Die Linke), also commonly referred to as
the Left Party (German: Linkspartei), is a democratic socialist and left-wing
populist political party. Since mid-2012, its co-chairs have been Katja Kipping
and Bernd Riexinger. In the Bundestag the party has 64 out of 630 seats after
polling 8.6% of the vote in the 2013 federal elections. Its parliamentary group
is therefore the third largest among the four groups in the German Bundestag, The
party has 7 seats in the European parliament
Frauke Petry Lutz Bachmann Katja Kipping
Italy
The Five Star Movement, M5S) is a political party in Italy
started by Beppe Grillo, a popular comedian and blogger.
The M5S is considered populist, anti-establishment, environmentalist,
anti-globalist and Eurosceptic. Grillo himself provocatively once referred to
it as "populist". Its members stress that the M5S is not a party but
a "movement" and it may not be included in the traditional left-right
paradigm. The "five stars" are a reference to five key issues for the
party: public water, sustainable transport, sustainable development, right to
Internet access, and environmentalism.
At the 2013 general election the M5S won the second most
popular votes for the Chamber of Deputies, but obtained just 109 deputies out
of 630. In the European Parliament the M5S is part of the Europe of Freedom and
Direct Democracy (EFDD) group, along with the UK Independence Party.
Renzi's recent resignation could sweep
Grillo's left-leaning and anti-establishment Five Star Movement party into
power — and throw Europe into an economic and potentially political
crisis.
Beppe Grillo
Spain
Podemos "We can” is a left wing populist party, which
seeks to address the problems of inequality, unemployment and economic malaise
that followed in the wake of the European debt crisis. The party was founded in March 2014 by
political scientist Pablo Iglesias.
Podemos is the second largest political party in Spain by
number of members after the People's Party (PP
In the 2014 European Parliament elections, Podemos received
7.98% of the national vote, with 1,200,000 votes cast, electing five Members of
the European Parliament (MEPs). At the elections for the national parliament on
December 20, 2015, Podemos received 21% of the vote and became the third
largest party in the parliament, with 69 out of 350 seats.
Pablo Iglesias
Portugal
Portugal is held up as the poster child of austerity that
works, having successfully exited its bailout program last year. Exports are
rising and the economy expanding. Most notable, from the vantage of Brussels at
least, it does not have a firebrand party like Syriza from Greece or Podemos in
Spain attempting to redraw the political map.
Netherlands
The Party for Freedom (PVV) is a nationalist and right-wing
populist political party in the Netherlands founded with variations under the
auspices of Geert Wilders. Wilders has a
price on his head from an Al Qaeda fatwa as described in his book “Marked for
Death”. As an aside, Wilders was
speaking in Garland, Texas when two Deash assassins from Arizona attempted to
commit mass murder at the auditorium.
They were shot dead by two Garland cops.
In the 2010 general election PVV won 24 seats, making it the
third-largest party. It in came third in the 2014 European Parliament election,
winning four out of 26 seats.
The party is consistently anti-immigrant and Eurosceptic and
it strongly advocates withdrawal from the EU.
However Wilders considers himself a “right wing liberal”
Geert Wilders
Denmark
The Danish People's Party (DPP) is a political party in
Denmark which is generally described as right-wing populist by academics and
far-right by international media. It has
also been described in academia and the media as a nativist and anti-immigrant
party. The party was founded in 1995 by Pia Kjærsgaard, who led the party until
2012, when she passed the leadership on to Kristian Thulesen Dahl. The party considers itself to be anti-Moslem.
In 2014 the party won the European Parliament election in
Denmark by a wide margin, securing 27% of the vote. After the election, it
joined the European Conservatives and Reformists group alongside parties such
as the United Kingdom's Conservative Party and Poland's Law and Justice. The
DPP received 21% of the vote in the 2015 general election, becoming the second
largest party in Denmark for the first time amid a plurality for the
centre-right parties.
Kristian Thulesen
Dahl Pia Kjærsgaard
Norway
The Progress Party (FrP) is a populist political party which
identifies as classical liberal (libertarian) and conservative-liberal. Academics
broadly categorize the party as neoliberal (moderate or non-radical) populist. The
party was Founded by Anders Lange in 1973.
The current leader is Siv Jensen.
The party entered into a coalition with the Conservative
Party, which from 2013 makes up the current Norwegian government (with
parliamentary support from two smaller centrist parties).
Siv Jensen
Sweden
Swedish Democrats (SD) is a political party in Sweden that describes
itself as social conservative with a nationalist foundation, though it has been
characterized by some as far-right, right-wing populist, national-conservative
and anti-immigration. Since 2005 its party chairman has been Jimmie Åkesson.
The Sweden Democrats were successful in the 2014 general
election, polling 12.9% and winning 49 seats in the Riksdag, a 14% share of the
seats. The Sweden Democrats, however, remain isolated in the Riksdag because
the other parties are staunchly maintaining a policy of refusing cooperation
with them.
Jimmie Åkesson
Finland
The Finns Party, PS, is a populist and nationalist-oriented
Finnish political party. Timo Soini has
been the leader of the party since 1997. In the 2015 election the party got
17.7% of the votes, making them the parliament's second largest party.
The party combines left-wing economic policies with
conservative social values, socio-cultural authoritarianism, and ethnic
nationalism. Several researchers have described the party as fiscally centre-left,
socially conservative, a "centre-based populist party" or the
"most left-wing of the non-socialist parties", whereas other scholars
have described them as radically right-wing populist. The Finns Party has been
compared by international media to the other Nordic populist parties and other
similar nationalist and right-wing populist movements in Europe that share
euroscepticism and are critical of globalism, whilst noting its strong support
for the Finnish welfare state.
In June 2014, the Finns Party joined the European
Conservatives and Reformists Group in the European Parliament, where it
co-operates with parties like the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom and
Law and Justice of Poland.
Timo Soini
Estonia
The Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) is a
national conservative political party in Estonia. Current chairman of the party
is Mart Helme. Ideologically, many political commentators place the EKRE on the
right to far right. It is also
eurosceptic and wishes to implement Swiss-style direct democracy.
In the parliamentary election of 2015, it secured 8.1% of
the votes and entered the Riigikogu with 7 seats. At the same time it had
around 7600 members, being the fourth largest Estonian party by membership
size.
Mart
Helme
Latvia
The National Alliance, NA, is a right-wing political party
in Latvia. With seventeen seats in the Saeima, the National Alliance is the
fourth-largest party in the parliament. The party is a coalition of
conservatives, Latvian ethnonationalists, and economic liberals, under the
leadership of Gaidis Bērziņš and Raivis Dzintars .
In the October 2014 election, it won seventeen seats, and
entered a centre-right coalition, along with Unity and the Union of Greens and
Farmers under Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma.
It is a member of the Alliance of Conservatives and
Reformists in Europe and its one MEP, Roberts Zīle, sits in the European
Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament.
Gaidis Bērziņš
Lithuania
Party Order and Justice (PTT), is a right-wing national
liberal political party in Lithuania, though it self-identifies as 'left-of-centre'.
It has eleven members of the Seimas, the unicameral Lithuanian parliament.
Formed as the 'Liberal Democratic Party' in 2002, the party
achieved almost immediate success with the election of leader Rolandas Paksas
as President of Lithuania within its first year. Paksas's impeachment led to
the party reorganising itself as 'Order and Justice' to compete in the 2004
parliamentary election. Since then, it has been the fourth-largest party in the
Seimas, and finished third in the elections to the European Parliament and to
the presidency.
The party sits on the right, possesses a radical and
anti-establishment identity, and is described as both socially conservative and
'liberal', in line with its original identity. The party's two MEPs sit in the
Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group in the European Parliament.
Rolandas Paksas
Poland
Law and Justice (PiS), is a right-wing
national-conservative, and Christian democratic political party, with 216 seats
in the Sejm and 56 in the Senate. Some
call the party Neo-Nazi. It is currently
the largest party in the Polish parliament.
Andrzej Duda is current President.
Beata Szydlo is Prime Minister.
The party was founded in 2001 by the Kaczyński twins, Lech
and Jarosław. The party won the 2005 election, while Lech Kaczyński won the
presidency. Jarosław served as Prime Minister, Several leading party members,
including Lech Kaczyński, died in a plane crash in 2010.
The party program is dominated by the Kaczyńskis' conservative
and law and order agenda. It has embraced economic interventionism, while
maintaining a socially conservative stance that in 2005 moved towards the
Catholic Church; the party's Catholic-nationalist wing split off in 2011 to
form Solidary Poland. The party is solidarist and mildly eurosceptic.
PiS is a member of the Alliance of Conservatives and
Reformists in Europe (ACRE) European political party. The current sixteen PiS
MEPs sit, as well as three other people elected from the PiS register, in the
European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the European Parliament.
Czech Republic
Dawn - National Coalition is a right-wing populist and
eurosceptic political party founded by Tomio Okamura, independent senator
attached to the Christian Democratic parliamentary group. The party favours the
implementation of direct democracy at all levels "as a solution to the
corruption, nepotism, clientelism and kleptocracy," the use of referenda,
the direct election of deputies, senators, mayors and regional governors, a
presidential system and, consequently, a stronger separation of powers.
In the parliamentary election of 2013 the party obtained 342
339 votes (6.88%) and gained 14 seats.
Tomio Okamura
Slovakia
Robert Fico is a Slovak politician who has been Prime
Minister of Slovakia since 4 April 2012; previously he was Prime Minister from
4 July 2006 to 8 July 2010. He has been the leader of the Direction – Social
Democracy (SMER-SD) party since 1999. He
has been a very popular Social Democrat, and not a true populist, although
there have been overtones of populism in his early governments.
Robert Fico
Hungary
Viktor Mihály Orbán is a Hungarian politician and jurist. He
has been Prime Minister of Hungary twice: currently, since 2010; and from 1998
to 2002. He is also the present leader of the national conservative Fidesz
party, a post he has held since 2003 and, previously, from 1993 to 2000.
Under his leadership, Orbán shifted Fidesz away from its
original classical liberal, integrationist platform toward center-right
national conservatism. After Fidesz attained a parliamentary plurality in the
1998 elections, Orbán governed the country for four years at the head of a
right-wing coalition government. He is
also considered by some to be Neo-Nazi.
Orbán's social conservatism, Eurosceptic nationalism,
constitutional reforms, and advocacy of what he calls "illiberal
democracy" have attracted significant international attention. Politico states
that his political philosophy "echoes the resentments of what were once
the peasant and working classes" by promoting an "uncompromising
defense of national sovereignty and a transparent distrust of Europe's ruling
establishments". He is considered one of the most influential leaders in
the European Union, and a "talisman of Europe's mainstream right".
Viktor Orban
Austria
The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) is a right-wing populist political
party in Austria. The party, led by Heinz-Christian Strache, is a member of the
Europe of Nations and Freedom group in the European Parliament.
Under Strache's leadership, the party has again attracted an
increase in its popular support. In the 2016 presidential election, FPÖ member
Norbert Hofer won the first round, receiving 35.1%, but was narrowly defeated
by Green Party's candidate Alexander Van der Bellen, 49.7% against 50.3%, in
the run-off. However, on 1 July 2016, the results were invalidated by the
Constitutional Court of Austria due to possible procedural irregularities,
after an appeal by the party's leader, Heinz-Christian Strache. The party lost
again on 4 December, this time by a larger margin of 7%.
Heinz-Christian
Strache Norbert Hofer
Switzerland
The Swiss People's (PPS), also known as the Democratic Union
of the Centre, is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political
party in Switzerland. Chaired by Albert Rösti, the party is the largest party
in the Federal Assembly, with 65 members of the National Council and 5 of the
Council of States.
The party is focussed increasingly on issues such as
euroscepticism and opposition to mass immigration. As of 2015 the SVP has 54
seats in the Federal Assembly, and its vote share of 29% in the 2007 Federal
Council election was the highest vote ever recorded for a single party in
Switzerland.
Albert Rosti
Slovenia
The Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) is liberal-conservative
political party in Slovenia. The party's leader is Janez Janša, The party's radical
populism, nationalistic and xenophobic rhetoric is apparent. It holds 21 of 90 seats in the national
assembly and 3 of 8 seats in the European parliament.
Janez Janša
Croatia
Croatia does not seem to have a viable national populist
party. What comes close is a regional
party, Croatian Democratic Alliance of Slavonia and Baranja (HDSSB), a
regionalist and right wing populist political party in the Eastern Croatian
region of Slavonia. The leader is Ivo
Sanader. They improved their position in
Croatian Parliament in the last election by winning 6 seats. They have no seats in the European
parliament.
Ivo Sanader
Bosnia Herzegovina
Bosnia Herzegovina does not seem to have a viable national
populist party. Their politics seems
related to Croatian, Serbian and Bosnian (Muslim) parties vying for
representation and power.
Serbia
The Serbian Radical Party (SRS) is a far right, Serbian
nationalist political party in Serbia. The party was founded in 1991 by Vojislav
Šešelj. The party's core ideology is
based on Serbian nationalism and the goal of creating a Greater Serbia. The
party is also strongly opposed to European integration (Euroscepticism) and
globalization, advocating for closer ties with Russia instead. The party
regards former general Ratko Mladić and former Republika Srpska president
Radovan Karadžić as "Serbian heroes".
The party has 22 of 250 seats in the national assembly.
Vojislav Šešelj
Montenegro
The People's Party (NS) is an opposition populist political
party in Montenegro. Until 2009 it was the main conservative party in
Montenegro, as opposed to ruling party and its main opposition, both of which
were socialist oriented.
At the last legislative elections in Montenegro, in March
2009, NS formed a pre-election coalition with Democratic Serb Party, but the
coalition failed to gain parliamentary status.
The party is led by Predrag Popović.
Predrag Popović
Macedonia
Macedonia does not seem to have a populist movement. Political parties reflect national identities
– Albanian, Bosnian, Turkish, Serbian, etc.
Kosovo
Macedonia does not seem to have a populist movement. See Albania.
Albania
The party of the Albanian National Front (PBK) is a
nationalist political party in Albania and Kosovo. The National Front is an
independent political formation, whose goals are to unite the Albanian people
residing within and outside the borders of Albania regardless of gender,
religion and social status. The party strives to create the conditions of
spiritual, cultural and political unity of the Albanian people within and
outside of Albania. Leader is Abas
Ermenji.
Abas Ermenji
Greece
The Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza) (a Greek adverb
meaning "from the roots" is a left-wing populist political party in
Greece, originally founded in 2004 as a coalition of left-wing and radical left
parties. It is the largest party in the Hellenic Parliament, with party
chairman Alexis Tsipras serving as Prime Minister of Greece from 26 January
2015 to 20 August 2015 and from 21 September 2015 to present. It holds 144 of 300 seats in the Hellenic
parliament and 4 of 21 seats in the European parliament. The party is essentially anti austerity
measures imposed on Greece by creditor countries, particularly Germany.
Alexis Tsipras
Turkey
The Justice and Development Party (AKP) is a conservative
political party in Turkey. Developed from the tradition of moderate Islamism,
the party is the largest in Turkey. The current party leader Binali Yıldırım is
the Prime Minister of Turkey, while former party leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
serves as the President. Erdogan has
been the charismatic titular leader of Turkey since the early 2000’s
Although the party is described as an Islamist party in some
media, party officials reject those claims. "The AK Party is a
conservative democratic party. The AK Party's conservatism is limited to moral
and social issues. Also in a separate speech made in 2005, Prime Minister
Erdoğan stated, "We are not an Islamic party, and we also refuse labels
such as Muslim-democrat." Erdoğan went on to say that the AK Party's
agenda is limited to "conservative democracy".
The party's foreign policy has also been widely described as
Neo-Ottomanist, an ideology that promotes renewed Turkish political engagement
in the former territories of its predecessor state, the Ottoman Empire.
However, the party's leadership has also rejected this label.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Bulgaria
Attack party, founded by Volen Siderov in 2005. There are
different opinions on where to place the party in the political spectrum: according
to most scholars it is extreme right,
according to others extreme left, or a synthesis of left-
and right-wing. The leadership of the party asserts that their party is
"neither left nor right, but Bulgarian". It advocates the
re-nationalisation of privatised companies and seeks to prioritize spending on
education, healthcare and welfare. The party is considered ultranationalist and
racist, especially antisemitic and anti-Roma, as well as xenophobic, especially
anti-Muslim and anti-Turkish. The party
has 11 of 240 seats in the national assembly and no seats in the European
parliament.
Volen Siderov
Romania
The People's Party – abbreviated PP-DD) a left wing populist
political party in Romania created in 2011 by television presenter Dan Diaconescu.
In June 2015 it merged into the National Union for the Progress of Romania. The ideology of the PP-DD expressed
nationalist and socialist sentiments. The party supported progressive measures
like higher retirement pensions and salaries, and a lower VAT. The party also
supported the collectivization of agriculture and sought a People's Tribunal,
the foundation of state companies with directly elected leadership. It has no present representation in national
or European politics.
Dan Diaconescu
Moldova
Moldova does not seem to have a populist party per se. It’s political patires seem to relflect pro
and anti communism and pro and anti Russia factions.
Ukraine
There is no obvious emergent populist party in Ukraine. Ukraine has a multi-party system with
numerous political parties, in which no one party often has a chance of gaining
power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition
governments. In the (October 2015 Ukrainian parliamentary election 132 political
parties nominated candidates. Many
parties in Ukraine have very small memberships and are unknown to the general
public.
Ukrainian parties
tend not to have a clear ideology but to contain different political groups
with diverging ideological outlooks. Unlike in Western politics, civilizational
and geostrategic orientations play a more important role than economic and
socio-political agendas for parties. This has led to coalition governments that
would be unusual from a Western point of view.
Current President: Petro Poroshenko. Current Prime minister: Volodymyr Groysman
Petro Poroshenko Volodymyr Groysman
Belarus
Belarus is effectively a communist dictatorship under the
rule of Alexander Lukashenko. Lip
service is given to political parties but they have no real power.
Alexander Lukashenko
Russia
United Russia (IPA) is as of 2016 the ruling political party
in Russia. United Russia is the largest party in the Russian Federation; as of
2016 it holds 343 (or 76.22%) of the 450 seats in the State Duma. It is populist in the sense that Putin is
Russia’s populist, charismatic leader
The United Russia Party formed in December 2001 through a
merger of the Unity Party and the Fatherland – All Russia Party. As of 2016 the
United Russia Party supports the policies of the presidential administration.
The Party's association with President and former Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
(a former leader of the Party) has been the key to its success. There is also
evidence that the electorate credits the Party for improvements to the economy.
United Russia remains the most popular party in the country,
ahead of the second-placed Communist Party at 19.19%.
The Party has no coherent ideology; however in 2009 the
United Russia Party proclaimed "Russian Conservatism" as its official
ideology.
Vladimir Putin
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