Anthony J. Constantini is a PhD candidate at the University of Vienna, with a dissertation focus on populism.
A right-populist wave washed over the European Union from 2015 to 2020.
Poland elected a hard-right government, then the following year saw the United Kingdom leave the bloc in 2016. This was followed by the election of populist-right governments in Austria and Italy, and Hungary reelecting Viktor Orbns Fidesz party in 2018. Capping it all off, Poland then reelected their same government in 2019.
Though that wave did, indeed, come to an end, it is clear a second one has now begun, and is possibly threatening the foundations of the EU. But if European integrationists are to understand how to deal with this second wave and prevent its escalation, they must first closely study their reactions or lack thereof to the first populist surge.
Brussels, and much of European media, had responded to this initial wave of populist success with dismissal. It also threw away an early opportunity to demonstrate that EU institutions were democratic during the blocs parliamentary elections in 2019.
While it was expected that the leader of the largest elected party would become president of the European Commission, as per the popular Spitzenkandidaten system, leaders instead picked then German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen who had not run and was little-known leaving a large number of voters feeling unrepresented.
Meanwhile, voter anger over migration aclear driverin severalof the electoral contests was oftentimes ignored orlambastedas nothing but racism, with most of the right-wing victories beingchalked up to disinformation.
And after doing nothing to affect change, the moment there was the briefest of pauses in populist wins from early 2020 to early 2022 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic analysts fell over themselves to explain how the populist wave was over.
Following this brief intermission, however, populism is now sweeping the Continent once again.
Earlier this year, Orbn followed up his 2018 victory with an even larger win against an opposition candidate who identified himself closely with Brussels, and had brought in former European Council President Donald Tusk to campaign on Hungarys National Day.
Sweden followed this trend in its recent election, with the countrys right wing winning power on the strength of the far-right Sweden Democrats, as the party doubled its support among young voterssince the last election
And further south, Italy has just elected the nationalist conservative Georgia Meloni.
Other dominoes may soon fall too.
SpainandFinlandare set to head to the polls in 2023, and both elections could result in right-wing coalitions that would include far-right parties. Meanwhile, Belgiums top two partiesin current polling averages are far-right populists, andPolandsgoverning right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS) still leads parliamentary polling and could feasibly govern with the nationalist Confederation.
EU leadership is either ignoring these facts, or its willfully misunderstanding them.
When former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghis unelected technocratic government fell this summer, Brussels helda metaphorical funeral procession, but there was no reckoning as to why the EU had felt forced to place its hopes on an unelected former central banker in the first place. And its almost as if the bloc was trying to reinforce its lack of appraisal, when just days before this years Italian election, von der Leyen threatened to use tools to make Italy comply with Brussels diktats, should Melonis conservatives take power. Surprisingly, her threat didnt alter the results.
Similarly, when Hungary overwhelmingly reelected Orbn, the European Parliament responded by branding the country an electoral autocracy, rather than trying to understand his popularity. And to combat the far right in Poland, Brussels simply cheered when former President of the European Council Donald Tusk became leader of the Civic Platform opposition party once again in order to take down the ruling PiS.
In each of these cases, there remains a persistent unwillingness to understand exactly why populists and the far right are succeeding.
This isnt to say the EU should ignore rule-of-law violations, should such violations exist. After all, corruption and the erosion of law can do serious damage to institutional trust. But EU leadership should still attempt to figure out why these waves are happening and the answers seem relatively obvious.
For one, Brussels has to figure out and clarify the vagueness of EU powers.
For example, is it illegal to ban things like teaching LGBTQ+ rights? And how much power should the Commission have over the purse, like with its plan to restrict Hungarys EU funds? Here, the Commission claims its responding to Hungarian corruption, but if so, then why arent practically openly corrupt member countries like Bulgaria getting an equally close look? And if it is ultimately because of Hungarys treatment of LGBTQ+ rights, then where do those powers come from?
On a broader scope, what should the EU even be? A primarily economic union that also exists to ensure some basic political rights, or an activist political and economic union that will seek to enforce modern interpretations of morality through the courts? These are enormous questions that need answering.
Secondly, Sweden and Italys elections both point to the continued importance of the issue of migration, and the Commission is clearly uncomfortable with this
While von der Leyen did mention migration in her State of the Union address, it only received a cursory sentence near the end, and much more attention was, once again, given to fighting disinformation. But if all right-wing victories are tarred as being the result of disinformation and nothing more, then nothing else will get fixed.
Its important to acknowledge that not every right-wing or populist election win is due to disinformation such victories often occur because of real voter frustration. And if Brussels doesnt try to listen to voters and figure out why a second populist wave is happening, theres no telling what an almost inevitable third wave might bring.
Excerpt from:
Understanding Europes shift to the right - POLITICO Europe
- Joe Biden Should Terminate the Imperial Presidency - The National Interest Online [Last Updated On: December 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: December 26th, 2020]
- The year of Robin Swann, a one term populist president, Covid 19 and an uncertain future - Slugger O'Toole [Last Updated On: December 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: December 26th, 2020]
- Mass Politics and 'Populism' in the World of Indian Languages - Kashmir Times [Last Updated On: December 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: December 26th, 2020]
- The Right and the Left Are Teaming Up to Lie About the Stimulus Bill - New York Magazine [Last Updated On: December 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: December 26th, 2020]
- Populism in the Early Republican Period of Turkey - Modern Diplomacy [Last Updated On: December 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: December 26th, 2020]
- Will The Debate Over $2,000 Stimulus Checks Help Democrats In Georgia? - FiveThirtyEight [Last Updated On: January 1st, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 1st, 2021]
- Trump fails to redraw politics' battle lines - The Week [Last Updated On: January 1st, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 1st, 2021]
- With the worst possible PM at the worst possible time, Britain's got no chance of a happy new year - Sydney Morning Herald [Last Updated On: January 1st, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 1st, 2021]
- View from the EU: Britain 'taken over by gamblers, liars, clowns and their cheerleaders' - The Guardian [Last Updated On: January 1st, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 1st, 2021]
- Bradford Kane's Book, Pitchfork Populism, Identifies the Roots of Trump's Turmoil - PRNewswire [Last Updated On: January 1st, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 1st, 2021]
- Antitrust Populism and the Consumer Welfare Standard: What Are We Actually Debating? - JD Supra [Last Updated On: January 1st, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 1st, 2021]
- Go ahead with Australian Open and open all borders too - The Australian Financial Review [Last Updated On: January 19th, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 19th, 2021]
- Misinformation, prolonged pandemic pose security threat in Canada: Brock experts - CBC.ca [Last Updated On: January 19th, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 19th, 2021]
- Europe's populists looked to Donald Trump. But after the Capitol violence, they're now looking away - SBS News [Last Updated On: January 19th, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 19th, 2021]
- The New Version of Unreality in the Long Web of Conspiracy 19/01/2021 World - KSU | The Sentinel Newspaper [Last Updated On: January 19th, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 19th, 2021]
- Companies are too big to be in the hands of businessmen, says researcher 1/18/2021 Worldwide - KSU | The Sentinel Newspaper [Last Updated On: January 19th, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 19th, 2021]
- Opinion: How Donald Trump's populist narrative led directly to the assault on the US Capitol - Newshub [Last Updated On: January 19th, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 19th, 2021]
- Trevor Munroe | Developing a vaccine against the populist virus and its insurrectionary variant - Jamaica Gleaner [Last Updated On: January 19th, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 19th, 2021]
- Is it curtains for Clive? What COVID means for populism in Australia - The Conversation AU [Last Updated On: January 19th, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 19th, 2021]
- Trump Is Gone but Trumpism Is Rampant: The Globalisation of Populism - The Wire [Last Updated On: January 19th, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 19th, 2021]
- The Guardian view of Trump's populism: weaponised and silenced by social media - The Guardian [Last Updated On: January 19th, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 19th, 2021]
- Is the populist tide ebbing? Despite Donald Trumps impending departure, growing global populism is still po - The Times of India Blog [Last Updated On: January 19th, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 19th, 2021]
- No, conservatives shouldn't quit the Republican Party - New York Post [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2021]
- Europe's Populists Ready to Seize on COVID Vaccination Bungle - Voice of America [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2021]
- RPT-COLUMN-Populist crowd fails to breach the silver fortress for now: Andy Home - Reuters [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2021]
- Column: Populist crowd fails to breach the silver fortress for now - Reuters [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2021]
- How wealth inequality, populism have impacted stock market - Yahoo Finance [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2021]
- Bidens Policies Are Popular. What Does That Mean for Republicans? - The New York Times [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2021]
- The AltFi view on Gamestonk: Populism is coming to fintech - AltFi [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2021]
- The other contagion: Why the US Capitol attack is a warning to populists - European Council on Foreign Relations [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2021]
- The Problems With Populism Go Well Beyond Donald Trump - The Dispatch [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2021]
- The Congress Partys politics of populism - The New Indian Express [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2021]
- Populism in the pandemic age - New Statesman [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2021]
- Why the GameStop affair is a perfect example of 'platform populism' - The Guardian [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2021]
- How Covid is fuelling the rise of European populism - The New European [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2021]
- What lies beneath - Islington Tribune newspaper website [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2021]
- Cuomo and Newsom Symbolize the Rot of Corporate Democrats and the Dire Need for Progressive Populism - CounterPunch.org - CounterPunch [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2021]
- Cuomo and Newsom symbolize corporate Democrat rot and the need for progressive populism - Salon [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2021]
- What actually is populism? And why does it have a bad ... [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2021]
- Guest Column: Is There A Place For Conservative Populism In America? - FITSNews [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2021]
- Populism: Examples and Definition | Philosophy Terms [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2021]
- Populism - Wikipedia [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2021]
- populism | History, Facts, & Examples | Britannica [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2021]
- After decades of dictatorship and corruption, Tunisia cannot thrive as a democracy on its own - USA TODAY [Last Updated On: February 22nd, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 22nd, 2021]
- Limbaugh: The indispensable man in the forging of Trumpism - National Catholic Reporter [Last Updated On: February 22nd, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 22nd, 2021]
- Pope Francis visits Holocaust survivor's home in Rome to thank her - KHOU.com [Last Updated On: February 22nd, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 22nd, 2021]
- Brands have things to learn from both Trump and Biden's approach to populism - CampaignLive [Last Updated On: February 22nd, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 22nd, 2021]
- Populism and conservative media linked to COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs among both Republicans and Democrats - PsyPost [Last Updated On: February 25th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 25th, 2021]
- Democrats sought to impeach conservative populism instead of Trump | TheHill - The Hill [Last Updated On: February 25th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 25th, 2021]
- The new Draghi government and the fate of populism in Italy - EUROPP - European Politics and Policy [Last Updated On: February 25th, 2021] [Originally Added On: February 25th, 2021]
- Negative emotions are better predictors of populist attitudes - Mirage News [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2021]
- Steering clear of the sirens of extreme populism - www.ekathimerini.com [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2021]
- Opinion | Justin Trudeau and Doug Ford are showing America who the real populists are - Toronto Star [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2021]
- Supporters of populist parties exhibit higher levels of political engagement than non-populist voters - EUROPP - European Politics and Policy [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2021]
- Save your local pub and help defeat populism - The Guardian [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2021]
- Populism and counter-populism - The News International [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2021]
- Beyond populism: Freebies have worked for Dravidian parties. But their real success was pulling TN out of the - The Times of India Blog [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2021]
- The Singur Agitation and the Contradictions of Agrarian Populism - Economic and Political Weekly [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2021]
- Campaign podcast: Populism vs high art, Nike and what makes an Agency of the Year - CampaignLive [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2021]
- Populism, politics, climate change and Mozart: Livestream lecture series will cover them all - CollingwoodToday.ca [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2021]
- A Pro-Europe, Anti-Populist Youth Party Scored Surprising Gains in the Dutch Elections - The New York Times [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2021]
- Book Review: Partha Chatterjee's "I am the People" discusses populism & the rise of the Hindu Right - Frontline [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2021]
- The other transformation - The Sunday Guardian Live - The Sunday Guardian [Last Updated On: March 31st, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 31st, 2021]
- Covid-19 jabs are at the sharp end of political risk - The Straits Times [Last Updated On: March 31st, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 31st, 2021]
- Keir Starmer, one year on: a communication gap? - EUROPP - European Politics and Policy [Last Updated On: March 31st, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 31st, 2021]
- Sadiq Khan has mastered the art of woke populism - Telegraph.co.uk [Last Updated On: March 31st, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 31st, 2021]
- The state fails and factional populism rises as the ANC bickers - Daily Maverick [Last Updated On: March 31st, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 31st, 2021]
- Europe's technocrats play into populist hands with their bungled Covid response - The Guardian [Last Updated On: March 31st, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 31st, 2021]
- Fukuyama: Theres similarities between populism of Trump and Kirchnerism - Buenos Aires Times [Last Updated On: March 31st, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 31st, 2021]
- Is populism going to fritter away over time as George W. Bush predicts? - Chicago Daily Herald [Last Updated On: March 31st, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 31st, 2021]
- Populism without the people - New Statesman [Last Updated On: March 31st, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 31st, 2021]
- Lingering populism considered ongoing threat to trade - Western Producer [Last Updated On: March 31st, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 31st, 2021]
- Opinion | Why Cant Republicans Be Populists? - The New York Times [Last Updated On: March 31st, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 31st, 2021]
- Max Richter: Innovative composer on the glories of rave, and the perils of populism - Irish Examiner [Last Updated On: April 15th, 2021] [Originally Added On: April 15th, 2021]
- "Fratelli tutti" and the challenge of neo-populism - Vatican News [Last Updated On: April 15th, 2021] [Originally Added On: April 15th, 2021]
- Politics of Populism | Economic and Political Weekly - Economic and Political Weekly [Last Updated On: April 15th, 2021] [Originally Added On: April 15th, 2021]
- The GOP Is Dead, Long Live American Populism Gab News [Last Updated On: April 15th, 2021] [Originally Added On: April 15th, 2021]
- Populism and the World of Oz | National Museum of American ... [Last Updated On: April 15th, 2021] [Originally Added On: April 15th, 2021]
- For these working stiffs, ambivalence rather than amore from the Pope - Crux Now [Last Updated On: April 21st, 2021] [Originally Added On: April 21st, 2021]
- Walter Mondale Is Dead, But His Visionary Liberalism Lives On - The New Republic [Last Updated On: April 21st, 2021] [Originally Added On: April 21st, 2021]