Populism: What Everyone Needs to Know

Why do populists come to power? Are they a threat to democracy? Has the rise of global populism reached its peak, or is it just beginning? This book provides answers to these questions and many more, by summarising in non-technical language the vast research literature on populism that extends across political science, economics, sociology, psychology, and history. Going well beyond the usual cases of Trump and Brexit, Paul D. Kenny provides evidence both of the recurrent global appeal of populism, and of its often deleterious consequences.

Populism: What Everyone Needs to Know(R) advances a new approach to defining populism that helps to make sense of the most robust research findings to date, and that sets up an exciting and dynamic approach in research for the years to come. Populism is, at heart, a political movement that challenges the institutional status quo. The great paradox of populism is that while people are often justifiably resentful of a system they feel is rigged against them, their reliance on charismatic leaders to channel their frustrations usually harms rather than helps democracy.

Paul Kenny is Professor of Political Science at the Australian Catholic University. Trained at Yale University and the London School of Economics in economics and political science, he is a world-leading expert on populism and brings a unique interdisciplinary perspective to the subject. He is the author of three books including Populism and Patronage (OUP, 2018), winner of the 2018 Robert A. Dahl Award, as well as numerous seminal articles in political economy.