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2025

Destroying Democracy for the People: The Economic, Social, and Political Consequences of Populist Rule, 1990 to 2017

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Scholars debate whether populism represents a potential corrective or an existential threat to democracy. Populism may enhance democracy by giving voice to previously neglected or marginalized groups (Bonikowski et al. 2019; Juon and Bochsler 2020; Mouffe 2005; Roberts 2012; Rovira Kaltwasser 2012). Others worry that populism undermines minority protections, government constraints, and the rule of law (Kenny 2020; Kriesi 2014; Müller 2016; Pappas 2015; Taggart 2000; Urbinati 2019). We develop general propositions that consider both possibilities.

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Last Updated: 1/22/25