What Populism Really is: Framings and Misunderstandings

Summary

In the United States and Europe we live today in what seems to be a sea of populism; some on the left, some on the right, some outside of that spectrum, seemingly. The term is certainly ambiguous. What is populism? What is driving the popularity of populism today? And why is it doing better in some places than others? This week, RBI director John Torpey interviewed Jan-Werner Müeller about the increasing (mis)framing of populism as a political program and how leaders of both left-wing and right-wing parties may be labeled as populists. Müeller also discusses the perils for democracy that our understanding of populism entails and the centrality of "cultural wars" for all populisms.

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International Horizons

International Horizons is a podcast of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies that brings scholarly expertise to bear on our understanding of international issues. John Torpey, the host of the podcast and director of the Ralph Bunche Institute, holds conversations with prominent scholars and figures in state-of-the-art international issues in our weekly episodes.

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