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Populism, Its Prevalence, and Its Negative Influence on Democratic Institutions

Populism, Its Prevalence, and Its Negative Influence on Democratic Institutions

Darren G. Lilleker, Márton Bene, Delia Cristina Balaban, Vicente Fenoll, Simon Kruschinski
ISBN13: 9781799880578|ISBN10: 1799880575|EISBN13: 9781799880592
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-8057-8.ch009
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MLA

Lilleker, Darren G., et al. "Populism, Its Prevalence, and Its Negative Influence on Democratic Institutions." Contemporary Politics, Communication, and the Impact on Democracy, edited by Dolors Palau-Sampio, et al., IGI Global, 2022, pp. 153-170. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-8057-8.ch009

APA

Lilleker, D. G., Bene, M., Balaban, D. C., Fenoll, V., & Kruschinski, S. (2022). Populism, Its Prevalence, and Its Negative Influence on Democratic Institutions. In D. Palau-Sampio, G. López García, & L. Iannelli (Eds.), Contemporary Politics, Communication, and the Impact on Democracy (pp. 153-170). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-8057-8.ch009

Chicago

Lilleker, Darren G., et al. "Populism, Its Prevalence, and Its Negative Influence on Democratic Institutions." In Contemporary Politics, Communication, and the Impact on Democracy, edited by Dolors Palau-Sampio, Guillermo López García, and Laura Iannelli, 153-170. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2022. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-8057-8.ch009

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Abstract

Populism is presented as a severe challenge to democracies as it delegitimises the institutions and processes on which democratic society is built. The infectious nature of populism within a system drives a shift in the public mood. The authors investigate this phenomenon through a content analysis of party posts on Facebook during the 2019 European parliamentary elections across 12 countries. They find almost a quarter of posts contain some form of populism, with anti-elitism the most common trope. Populist appeals are most likely to accompany critiques of labour and social policy, labelling elites or minority groups as causing inequalities which disadvantage the ordinary people. Both forms of populism enjoy high levels of user engagement suggesting they gain higher levels of reach within social media platforms. As support for populism rose in the wake of the economic and migrant crises, the authors suggest post-pandemic this increase is likely to continue.

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