Markus J. Prutsch is Senior Investigator and Administrator at the European Parliament, and Associate Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at Heidelberg University, Germany. He has a PhD from the European University Institute in Florence and is a Fellow of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

By exploring Caesarism as a plebiscitarian form of autocratic leadership from the French Revolution to the present, Markus Prutsch helps us place the current crisis of liberal democracy into historical perspective. The author cogently demonstrates that the rise and fall of popular dictators must be understood as an integral part of the history of modern democracy.

• Preface1. Introduction2. Revolution and Crisis3. 'Bonapartism' as Hazard and Promise4. From Bonapartism to Caesarism: The Mid-Century and Louis-Napoleon5. 'Germanic Caesarism' and the Bismarkckreich6. Mass Democracy and 'Scientification': Caesarism at the turn of the Century7. Outlook: Legacies of Caesarism8. ResultsBibliographyIndex

Markus J. Prutsch is Senior Investigator and Administrator at the European Parliament, and Associate Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at Heidelberg University, Germany. He has a PhD from the European University Institute in Florence and is a Fellow of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

By exploring Caesarism as a plebiscitarian form of autocratic leadership from the French Revolution to the present, Markus Prutsch helps us place the current crisis of liberal democracy into historical perspective. The author cogently demonstrates that the rise and fall of popular dictators must be understood as an integral part of the history of modern democracy.

• Preface1. Introduction2. Revolution and Crisis3. 'Bonapartism' as Hazard and Promise4. From Bonapartism to Caesarism: The Mid-Century and Louis-Napoleon5. 'Germanic Caesarism' and the Bismarkckreich6. Mass Democracy and 'Scientification': Caesarism at the turn of the Century7. Outlook: Legacies of Caesarism8. ResultsBibliographyIndex

Markus J. Prutsch is Senior Investigator and Administrator at the European Parliament, and Associate Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at Heidelberg University, Germany. He has a PhD from the European University Institute in Florence and is a Fellow of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

By exploring Caesarism as a plebiscitarian form of autocratic leadership from the French Revolution to the present, Markus Prutsch helps us place the current crisis of liberal democracy into historical perspective. The author cogently demonstrates that the rise and fall of popular dictators must be understood as an integral part of the history of modern democracy.

• Preface1. Introduction2. Revolution and Crisis3. 'Bonapartism' as Hazard and Promise4. From Bonapartism to Caesarism: The Mid-Century and Louis-Napoleon5. 'Germanic Caesarism' and the Bismarkckreich6. Mass Democracy and 'Scientification': Caesarism at the turn of the Century7. Outlook: Legacies of Caesarism8. ResultsBibliographyIndex