Populism, Populists, and the Crisis of Political Parties

doi:10.3790/978-3-428-55418-8

Populism, Populists, and the Crisis of Political Parties

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Pallaver, G., Gehler, M., Cau, M. (Eds.) (2018). Populism, Populists, and the Crisis of Political Parties. A Comparison of Italy, Austria, and Germany 1990–2015. Duncker & Humblot. https://doi.org/10.3790/978-3-428-55418-8

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Populism, Populists, and the Crisis of Political Parties

A Comparison of Italy, Austria, and Germany 1990–2015

Editors: Pallaver, Günther | Gehler, Michael | Cau, Maurizio

Annali dell'Istituto storico italo-germanico in Trento / Jahrbuch des italienisch-deutschen historischen Instituts in Trient. Contributi / Beiträge, Vol. 34

(2018)

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Book Details

Publisher Name: Duncker & Humblot
ISBN: 978-3-428-55418-8
978-3-428-15418-0 (print edition)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3790/978-3-428-55418-8
Edition: 1
Language: English
Pages: 339
Collections: HIST 2018
D&H 2018
NBE HIST
NBE POL
NBE WISO
NBE D&H
Subjects: Political parties
European history

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Institution: € 46.00 (incl. local VAT if applicable)
Individual: € 35.90 (incl. local VAT if applicable)

About The Author

Michael Gehler, Studium der Geschichte und Germanistik an der Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck (1981–1988), außerordentlicher Professor am Institut für Zeitgeschichte dort (1999–2006), Leiter des Instituts für Geschichte an der Universität Hildesheim und Jean-Monnet Chair (seit 2006), Direktor des Instituts für Neuzeit- und Zeitgeschichtsforschung (2013–2017) und korrespondierendes Mitglied der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, Forschungen u.a. zur europäischen Integration und Internationalen Geschichte, Publikationen zu Geschichte, Ideen, Vereinigung und Institutionen Europas, u.a. »Europa. Ideen – Institutionen – Vereinigung – Zusammenhalt«, Reinbek.

Abstract

The parliamentary elections of 2017 in Germany and Austria as well as the general elections in Italy 2018 have deeply changed the party and government system. The German party Alternative for Germany has been prominently elected into the parliament, the Austrian Freedom Party forms part of the government together with the Austrian People's Party, Italy has its first government of populists with the 5 Stars Movement and the Northern League. Those who seek to understand how these transformations came about in just a short period of time, will find some illuminating answers in this book. Analysis, developments, assessments and trends by renowned historians and political scientists prove that populism in these three countries has a history on which it can successfully build. This includes the crisis of historical parties which have continuously lost their political cohesiveness and trustworthiness.The parliamentary elections of 2017 in Germany and Austria as well as the general elections in Italy 2018 have deeply changed the party and government system. The German party Alternative for Germany has been prominently elected into the government, the Austrian Freedom Party forms part of the government together with the Austrian People's Party, Italy has its first government of populists with the 5 Stars Movement and the Northern League.

Those who seek to understand how these transformations came about in just a short period of time, will find some illuminating answers in this book. Analysis, developments, assessments and trends by renowned historians and political scientists prove that populism in these three countries has a history on which it can successfully build. This includes the crisis of historical parties which have continuously lost their political cohesiveness and trustworthiness.

Section Title	Page	Action	Price
Preface	5
Contents	7
Introduction	9
I. Historical Perspectives and Transformation Process	15
Michael Gehler: Different Paths toward Europe? Germany, Italy, and Austria 1945-2009	17
1. Preliminary remarks	17
2. Phases of development	17
3. Developments after 1945/1949	20
a. Together in the camp of the unsuccessful and the losers: Italy’s farewell to the monarchy and its peace treaty—occupation, division, and the founding of two states in Germany and the reestablishment of Austria (1945-1948/49)	20
b. Setting the course for western integration: The Federal Republic of Germany and Italy as the pioneers of Western Europe and Austria’s position of the center (1949-1969)	22
c. The 1970s: A policy of détente abroad and terrorism at home	27
d. Continued unification of Western Europe as a common goal: Italy and Germany as drivers and Austria as an outsider and silent partner of integration (the 1980s)	29
e. Cooperation and juxtaposition: German unification, political skepticism, and public agreement in Austria and Italy. Maastricht as a solution (1989-1993)	30
f. Domestic challenges, problems, and crises: Obstructed and inhibited action for Europe in the second half of the 1990s	32
4. Conclusion	36
Bibliography	38
Karin Priester: Right-wing Populism in Europe	45
I. Introduction	45
II. Populism as a protest movement	45
III. Common properties of right-wing populism	46
IV. The second generation of right-wing populists	47
V. Right-wing populism as exclusionary anti-establishment protest	49
VI. Types of right-wing populism	49
1. The ethno-nationalistic type	50
a. The Finns Party (originally The True Finns)	51
b. The Hungarian Case	51
2. The ethno-regionalist subtype	52
VII. The national-liberal type	53
1. The Norwegian Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet)	53
2. The Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV)	54
a. The libertarian subtype	55
VIII. Reasons for the emergence of right-wing populism	56
1. The macrostructural level	56
2. The mesostructural level	56
3. The microstructural level	57
IX. Concluding remarks	58
Bibliography	60
Koen Abts / Rudi Laermans: Populism: Definitions, Questions, Problems,and Theories	63
1. Introduction	63
2. Defining populism: Mobilization, leadership and style, or ideology?	64
3. The core structure of populist ideology	66
4. Varieties of populism: Radical right, neoliberal, and radical left	69
5. Populism and democracy: Symptom, corrective, or threat?	72
6. Reactions to populism: The dilemma of “tolerance for the intolerant”	75
Bibliography	77
Maurizio Cau: Populism vs Constitutionalism. The Theoretical Core of Populist Ideology and the Foundationsof the Democratic System	81
1. Preliminary definitions. The conceptual spectrum of populism	81
2. Populism vs constitutionalism	84
3. The idea of a people	87
4. Popular sovereignty	88
5. The system of political representation	93
6. Conclusions	96
Bibliography	97
Günther Pallaver: Populism in the Mainstream Media. Germany, Austria, and Italy in Comparison	99
1. Introduction	99
2. Austria	103
3. The Federal Republic of Germany	105
4. Italy	108
5. Digression: The role of the new media	111
6. Populism as a variable of the media system	114
Bibliography	116
II. Political Actors. Shaping the Populist Challenge	121
Reinhold Gärtner: Jörg Haider and His Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs	123
1. Introduction	123
2. Jörg Haider: The early years	125
3. Electoral success	127
4. Who is number one, who is number two?	129
5. Haider and the BZÖ	130
6. Right-wing extremism	132
7. The end—What is left of the politician Jörg Haider	133
8. The FPÖ after Haider	135
Bibliography	137
Marco Brunazzo: The Northern League: Bossi, Salvini,and the Many Faces of Populism	139
1. Introduction	139
2. The LN’s populist ideology	142
3. Three challenges for the LN	147
4. The LN and the political discourse about the EU	149
5. Conclusion	153
Bibliography	154
Giovanni Orsina: Berlusconi as a Circumstantial Populist	157
1. Introduction	157
2. The transformation of the political	158
a. We want it all	159
b. Enlarging democracy	160
c. Deepening democracy	161
d. Processes of depoliticization	161
e. The crisis of representation	163
f. The competitive self-delegitimation of the political	164
3. Tangentopoli	166
4. Berlusconi’s Populism	170
Bibliography	176
Lutz Klinkhammer: Gianfranco Fini. From Neofascist “Dauphin” to anti-Fascist “Traitor”	181
1. Introduction	181
2. The newcomer	182
3. Berlusconi’s ally	187
4. Fini’s anti-populist turn	190
Bibliography	197
Frank Decker: “Alternative für Deutschland”. The Belated Arrival of Right-wing Populism in the Federal Republic	199
1. Introduction	199
2. Ideological placement and political objectives	202
3. Internal development and party split	206
4. Reaching new electoral heights due to the refugee crisis	209
5. Conclusion: On the path toward a six-party system?	212
Bibliography	215
Manfred Görtemaker: Angela Merkel and Romano Prodi: Antithesis of Populism?	217
1. Introduction	217
2. The case of Angela Merkel	219
a. A misfit to power: Accident or strategy?	219
b. Decisions on an ethical basis	222
c. The refugee crisis and European populism	224
d. Merkel’s fight against populism	227
3. The case of Romano Prodi	229
4. Merkel and Prodi: A comparison	232
Bibliography	234
III. European Political Parties, Their Response to the Populist Challenge, and Their Treatment of Populism	237
Steven Van Hecke / Alex Andrione-Moylan: Between Collaboration and Demarcation. The European People’s Party and the Populist Wave	239
I. Introduction	239
II. Liberal democracy, europe, the EPP, and the “populist threat”	240
1. Populism and European integration	240
2. The EPP and the challenges of European democracy	241
III. Mapping out a diverse set of strategies	243
1. The Challenge of European Christian Democracy	243
2. Fallout of the EPP’s broadening strategy	244
3. Populism among the ranks of the EPP	247
4. Rebels at the edge of Europe	251
IV. Conclusion	255
Bibliography	256
Giovanni Bernardini: Social Democracy and the Challenge of Populism	259
Bibliography	272
Hans Heiss: The Greens and Populism: A Contradiction in Terms?	277
1. The specter	277
2. The phenomenon of populism	279
3. New social and communicative configurations	280
4. The Greens: Opponents of populism?	283
5. The concurrent rise of the Greens and populist movements from 1980 onwards	286
6. Between coordination and fragmentation	288
7. The early beginnings of left-wing populism	290
8. Professionalized and ready for government, but Eurosceptic	291
9. A transition in European politics	293
10. Opposing right-wing populism: An opportunity to remodel the Green party	296
11. Learning from confrontations	297
Bibliography	299
Guido Thiemeyer: European Liberal Parties and the Challenge of Populism	303
1. Introduction	303
2. Liberal parties and populism: Examples	305
3. Conclusion	315
Bibliography	316
Anton Pelinka: Populism. A Short Conclusion to the Volume	319
1. Populism	319
2. Populism—form and methods	320
3. Populisms—substance: Exclusivity	322
4. Populism—who are the “Defining Others”?	325
5. Populism—party typology: A new class party or (and?) a new catch-all party	329
Bibliography	332
Index	333
Contributors	337