This volume illustrates the diversity of populism globally. When seeking power, populists politicize issues, and point to problems that need to be addressed such as inequalities, the loss of national sovereignty to globalization, or the rule of unresponsive political elites. Yet their solutions tend to be problematic, simplistic, and in most instances, instead of leading to better forms of democracy, their outcomes are authoritarian. Populists use a playbook of concentrating power in the hands of the president, using the legal system instrumentally to punish critics, and attacking the media and civil society. Despite promising to empower the people, populists lead to processes of democratic erosion and even transform malfunctioning democracies into hybrid regimes.

The Routledge Handbook of Global Populism provides instructors, students, and researchers with a thorough and systematic overview of the history and development of populism and analyzes the main debates. It is divided into sections on the theories of populism, on political and social theory and populism, on how populists politicize inequalities and differences, on the media and populism, on its ambiguous relationships with democratization and authoritarianism, and on the distinct regional manifestations of populism. Leading international academics from history, political science, media studies, and sociology map innovative ideas and areas of theoretical and empirical research to understand the phenomenon of global populism.

About the Author

Carlos de la Torre is Professor of Sociology at the University of Kentucky and Emeritus Professor at FLASCO-Ecuador. He has been a fellow at the Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars. He is the author of 13 books and over 100 articles and book chapters.

Reviews

"It broadens our view and provides rich material for a more empirically based debate on populism and, most of all, on the reasons for its development."

Dirk Joerke, Professor of Political Theoy, TU Darmstadt, Germany

"The Routledge Handbook of Global Populism by Carlos de la Torre is one the best anthologies I have read in recent years. The book has two major pluses. First, top-notch author have provided clearly written, well-argued, and engaging chapters with up-to-date bibliographies on the topic. These include authors such as Andrew Arato, Jean Cohen, Steven Levitsky, Kurt Weyland, Kenneth Roberts, Nadia Urbinati, Robert Barr, Kirk Hawkins, Benjamin Moffitt, Paul Blokker, and Federico Finchelstein. The second plus is the thematic scope of the contributions and the consideration of competing approaches. In addition to de la Torre's general introduction and a coauthored afterword, the twenty-eight chapters deal with everything one would want to know about the phenomenon...In short, this book is a must read because of its scope and high scholarly level. It will be very useful for teachers seeking up-to-date articles on populism for their course syllabi, and it is a lifesaver for students preparing term papers and dissertations on the subject. I highly recommend it, and I am currently using it in an undergraduate course on political processes and in a graduate seminar on contemporary political theory."

Benjamin Arditi, Professor of Politics, National University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico

Book Information
ISBN 9780367659776
Author Carlos de la Torre
Format Paperback
Page Count 498
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g