Populist promises, populist threats: The origins, nature and dynamics of populism in post -communist Europe.

摘要

This thesis studied the nature of populism as it relates to politics in post-communist Europe, providing both an empirical study of populism in practice and also elaborating a definition of modern populism. The purpose of the research was to formulate an informative understanding of not only the nature of populism, but also its relation to earlier forms of populism and to fascism. Taking a review approach, the work begins with an examination of the origins of populism in late-19th century America and Russia in order to arrive at an understanding of the nature of traditional populism. The second chapter traces the origins of fascism, its practice in Germany, Italy, Hungary and Romania, and relates fascism to earlier forms of populism, concluding that fascism is a radical form of populism. The third chapter, in turn, relates both traditional populism and fascism to the appearance of neopopulism in post-war Western Europe, using France, Italy and Austria as cases, and concluding that neopopulism reflects the key aspects of traditional populism slightly modified by the influence of fascism. Chapter four takes a look at the role of populism in post-communist Europe, using Hungary, Romania and Slovakia as case studies. The thesis concludes that populism, more precisely defined than is generally the case, supported by an empirical study of post-communist populism, can provide the basis for further study of modern forms of populism and their relations. The concluding chapter presents a "populist minimum," outlining the key components of modern populism, and discusses the threat populism holds for emerging democracies.