Paul D. Kenny – författare

Why do populists come to power? Are they a threat to democracy? Has the rise of global populism reached its peak, or is it just beginning? This book provides answers to these questions and many more, by summarising in non-technical language the vast research literature on populism that extends across political science, economics, sociology, psychology, and history. Going well beyond the usual cases of Trump and Brexit, Paul D. Kenny provides evidence both of the recurrent global appeal of populism, and of its often deleterious consequences. Populism: What Everyone Needs to Know® advances a new approach to defining populism that helps to make sense of the most robust research findings to date, and that sets up an exciting and dynamic approach in research for the years to come. Populism is, at heart, a political movement that challenges the institutional status quo. The great paradox of populism is that while people are often justifiably resentful of a system they feel is rigged against them, their reliance on charismatic leaders to channel their frustrations usually harms rather than helps democracy.

Why do populists come to power? Are they a threat to democracy? Has the rise of global populism reached its peak, or is it just beginning? This book provides answers to these questions and many more, by summarising in non-technical language the vast research literature on populism that extends across political science, economics, sociology, psychology, and history. Going well beyond the usual cases of Trump and Brexit, Paul D. Kenny provides evidence both of the recurrent global appeal of populism, and of its often deleterious consequences. Populism: What Everyone Needs to Know® advances a new approach to defining populism that helps to make sense of the most robust research findings to date, and that sets up an exciting and dynamic approach in research for the years to come. Populism is, at heart, a political movement that challenges the institutional status quo. The great paradox of populism is that while people are often justifiably resentful of a system they feel is rigged against them, their reliance on charismatic leaders to channel their frustrations usually harms rather than helps democracy.

Populist rule is bad for democracy, yet in country after country, populists are being voted into office. Populism and Patronage shows that the populists such as Indira Gandhi and Narendra Modi win elections when the institutionalized ties between non-populist parties and voters decay. Yet, the explanations for this decay differ across different types of party system. Populism and Patronage focuses on the particular vulnerability of patronage-based party systems to populism. Patronage-based systems are ones in which parties depend on the distribution of patronage through a network of brokers to mobilize voters. Drawing on principal agent theory and social network theory, this book argues that an increase in broker autonomy weakens the ties between patronage parties and voters, making latter available for direct mobilization by populists. Decentralization is thus a major factor behind populist success in patronage democracies. The volume argues that populists exploit the breakdown in national patronage networks by connecting directly with the people through the media and mass rallies, avoiding or minimizing the use of deeply-institutionalized party structures.This book not only reinterprets the recurrent appeal of populism in India, but also offers a more general theory of populist electoral support that is tested using qualitative and quantitative data on cases from across Asia and around the world, including Indonesia, Japan, Venezuela, and Peru.