
Security at What Cost? Punitive Populism and Democratic Trade-offs in Ecuador
In this commentary, Emilio Hernández examines Ecuador’s recent security crisis through the lens of punitive populism, offering a nuanced account ...

Prof. Berman: Democratic Backsliding Is Neither Sudden nor Surprising
In an interview with the ECPS, Sheri Berman challenges dominant crisis narratives by arguing that democratic backsliding is “neither unexpected ...

Assoc. Prof. Antal: Orbán’s Election Project Seeks Public Backing for Dictatorial Turn, Not Democratic Legitimacy
As Hungary approaches the April 12 elections, Viktor Orbán’s long-standing rule faces a critical test shaped by both domestic discontent ...

Assoc. Prof. Csehi: Hungary’s Election to Test the Resilience and Limits of Populist Rule in Europe
Assoc. Prof. Robert Csehi argues that Hungary’s April 12 election represents a critical test of whether entrenched populist rule can ...

Dr. Carothers: When Institutions Fail, Protest Becomes the Last Line of Democratic Defense
In this interview with ECPS, Dr. Thomas Carothers offers a nuanced reassessment of contemporary democratic backsliding, challenging dominant explanations that ...

Dr. Arian: Neither Foreign Powers nor Clerical Elites Represent the Iranian People
In this interview with the ECPS, Dr. Amir Ahmadi Arian offers a penetrating account of Iran at a moment of ...

Prof. Bjarnegård: Gender Will Become a Central Fault Line Between Liberal Democracy and Authoritarian Populism
In this ECPS interview, Professor Elin Bjarnegård (Uppsala University) argues that gender is no longer a side issue but “a ...

Prof. Sundar: Almost Every Institution in India Has Been Subverted to Advance a Supremacist Agenda
In this interview with the ECPS, Professor Nandini Sundar (Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University) delivers a stark assessment of ...

Assoc. Prof. Anastasopoulos: AI May Transform Populism by Mobilizing Highly Skilled Workers
Assoc. Prof. Jason Anastasopoulos argues that AI is not merely a tool of efficiency, but a political force that may ...

ECPS Virtual Workshop Series / Session 14 — From Bots to Ballots: AI, Populism, and the Future of Democratic Participation
Please cite as:ECPS Staff. (2026). “Virtual Workshop Series / Session 14 -- From Bots to Ballots: AI, Populism, and the ...

Algorithmic Environmental Populism and the Digital Politics of Waste in Africa
Dr. Oludele Solaja’s analysis introduces the concept of “Algorithmic Environmental Populism” to illuminate how digital platforms are reshaping the politics ...

“Googling” Patterns during 2026 State of the Union Address – Research Note
This research note introduces high frequency “real-time” Google Trends data as a novel tool for studying public engagement with major ...

Professor Treisman: Trump’s Push for Executive Aggrandizement Puts Democratic Resilience to the Test
In this ECPS interview, Professor Daniel Treisman examines how Trump’s political style intersects with the logic of informational autocracy and ...

Post-Truth Populism: A New Political Paradigm
Please cite as: Syvak, Nikoletta. (2026). “Post-Truth Populism: A New Political Paradigm.” ECPS Book Reviews. European Center for Populism Studies. ...

Dopamine Detox, Self-Discipline, and the Populist Moralization of Responsibility
This commentary interrogates the rising popularity of “dopamine detox” as a moralized response to digital overload and burnout, situating it ...

Virtual Workshop Series — Session 7: Rethinking Representation in an Age of Populism
Session 7 of the ECPS Virtual Workshop Series offered a compelling interdisciplinary examination of how contemporary populism unsettles the foundations ...

Ten Years on with Brexit / Prof. Corner: With Brexit, the UK Has Lost More Than It Has Gained
As the tenth anniversary of the Brexit referendum approaches, debate has shifted from slogans to evidence. In this interview, Professor ...

Ten Years on with Brexit / Prof. Portes: Brexit Has Not Solved Britain’s Problems; It Made Them Worse
As the United Kingdom nears the tenth anniversary of the 2016 Brexit referendum, Professor Jonathan Portes offers a sober, evidence-based ...

ECPS Academy Summer School — Europe Between Oceans: The Future of the EU Trade Between the Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific (July 6-10, 2026)
Are you interested in global trade politics and the future of Europe in a shifting world order? Do you want ...

Power Transition in the Middle East: The Intersection of US Global Rivalries and Israel’s Regional Ambitions
In this long ECPS commentary, Professor Ibrahim Ozturk examines the 2026 US–Israeli strikes on Iran as part of a broader ...

Energy Geopolitics from Hormuz to Lagos: Commodity Shocks and African Vulnerability
In this analysis, Dr. Oludele Solaja examines how geopolitical tensions around the strategic oil chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz ...

From the ‘End of History’ to the ‘End of a Fiction’: What Davos 2026 Really Announced
Davos 2026 revealed a global order no longer converging on a single liberal model, but sliding into a harsher era ...

From Trade Skirmishes to Trade War? Transatlantic Trade Relations During the Second Trump Administration
Please cite as:Young, Alasdair R. (2026). “From Trade Skirmishes to Trade War? Transatlantic Trade Relations during the Second Trump Administration.” ...

Transatlantic Trade, the Trump Disruption and the World Trade Organization
Please cite as:Jones, Kent. (2026). “Transatlantic Trade, the Trump Disruption and the WTO.” In: Populism and the Future of Transatlantic ...

Security at What Cost? Punitive Populism and Democratic Trade-offs in Ecuador
In this commentary, Emilio Hernández examines Ecuador’s recent security crisis through the lens of punitive populism, offering a nuanced account ...

Survival Populism: How Environmental Crisis Fuels Democratic Distrust in the Global South
In this commentary, Dr. Oludele Solaja introduces the notion of “survival populism” to capture how environmental crisis and material insecurity ...

When Fuel Prices Turn Political: Trust, Climate Reform, and Everyday Populism in Nigeria
This commentary examines how fuel pricing in Nigeria has become a central site of democratic contestation, linking economic reform to ...

When Floods Become Political: Disaster Relief, Democratic Trust, and Everyday Environmental Populism in Nigeria
In this insightful commentary, Dr. Oludele Solaja reconceptualizes recurrent flooding in Nigeria as a site of political contestation rather than ...

Algorithmic Environmental Populism and the Digital Politics of Waste in Africa
Dr. Oludele Solaja’s analysis introduces the concept of “Algorithmic Environmental Populism” to illuminate how digital platforms are reshaping the politics ...

Algorithmic Populism and the Politics of Waste: How AI Reproduces Plastic Colonialism in the Global South
In this incisive analysis, Dr. Oludele Solaja interrogates how AI-driven waste governance reproduces global inequalities under the guise of efficiency. ...

Climate Populism in the Global South: Environmental Crisis and the Politics of Economic Discontent
Environmental crises are increasingly reshaping political conflict across the Global South. In this ECPS commentary, Dr. Oludele Solaja examines the ...

Plastic Colonialism and the Politics of Waste: Toward a Theory of Waste Sovereignty in the Global South
Plastic waste has become one of the defining environmental crises of the twenty-first century—but its politics extend far beyond questions ...

What Orbán’s Defeat Changes—and Does Not Change—for France’s Far Right
In this incisive commentary, Dr. Gwenaëlle Bauvois examines the broader European implications of Viktor Orbán’s electoral defeat, focusing on its ...

Prof. Marlière: Local Elections Show Polarization in France Amplifies the Mainstreaming of the Far Right
In an era marked by intensifying polarization and electoral fragmentation, France’s 2026 municipal elections offer a revealing lens into the ...

French Court Ruling Convicting Marine Le Pen: Implications for the Future of the Far Right in France
DOWNLOAD ARTICLE Please cite as:Al-Sheikh Daoud, Emad Salah & Al-Dahlaki, Khudhair Abbas. (2026). “French Court Ruling Convicting Marine Le Pen: ...

Professor Camus: The Boundary Between Mainstream and Radical Right in France Is Blurring Locally
Professor Jean-Yves Camus, a leading scholar of the far right and researcher at the Observatory of Political Radicalities at the ...

Prof. Sundar: Almost Every Institution in India Has Been Subverted to Advance a Supremacist Agenda
In this interview with the ECPS, Professor Nandini Sundar (Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University) delivers a stark assessment of ...

Dr. Lopes: Ventura Mobilized ‘Latent Populists,’ but Authoritarian Appeals in Portugal Have Limits
André Ventura’s qualification for the presidential runoff marks a critical moment in Portuguese politics, long viewed as resistant to far-right ...

November 17th: The Rise of the Far-Right as a ‘Youth Trend’
In this powerful reflection for ECPS – Voice of Youth, high school student Emmanouela Papapavlou warns that the rise of ...

Virtual Workshop Series — Session 3: Populism, Freedom of Religion and Illiberal Regimes
Please cite as:ECPS Staff. (2025). “Virtual Workshop Series — Session 3: Populism, Freedom of Religion and Illiberal Regimes.” European Center ...

The Ripple Effect: How a Finnish Hate Speech Case Fuels Transatlantic Culture Wars
Dr. Gwenaëlle Bauvois shows how a single legal case can reverberate far beyond its national context, becoming a transnational resource ...

March 8th: For Every Victory That Was Not Considered Important
In this reflective Voice of Youth (VoY) commentary for International Women’s Day, Emmanouela Papapavlou examines how gender hierarchy persists not ...

Prof. Bjarnegård: Gender Will Become a Central Fault Line Between Liberal Democracy and Authoritarian Populism
In this ECPS interview, Professor Elin Bjarnegård (Uppsala University) argues that gender is no longer a side issue but “a ...

Voting with Freebies: How Direct Welfare Benefits Reshape Electoral Behaviour in India
In this analytically rich commentary, ECPS Youth Group member Saurabh Raj examines how direct welfare delivery is transforming electoral politics ...

Iran and Turkey through ‘The Golden Cage’ and ‘Contextual Gendered Racialization’ Lens: Populism, Law, Gender and Freedom
In this commentary, Dr. Hafza Girdap offers a compelling comparative analysis of populism, law, gender, and freedom across two authoritarian ...

November 25: The Normalization of Violence and the Forgetting That Keeps It Alive
In this compelling VoY essay, Emmanouela Papapavlou confronts the uncomfortable truth behind society’s yearly cycle of remembrance on November 25th. ...

Prof. Klein: It Is Difficult to Label Japanese PM Takaichi a Populist, Despite Her Nationalism and Anti-Feminism
In this incisive interview for the ECPS, Professor Axel Klein offers a nuanced assessment of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s ...

Dr. de Silva: Anti-Gender Narratives Are Highly Interlinked and Interconnected Across Borders
“Anti-gender discourses are very interlinked and interconnected; we see these floating narratives repeated across countries like Latvia, Poland, and Russia,” ...

Security at What Cost? Punitive Populism and Democratic Trade-offs in Ecuador
In this commentary, Emilio Hernández examines Ecuador’s recent security crisis through the lens of punitive populism, offering a nuanced account ...

The Ripple Effect: How a Finnish Hate Speech Case Fuels Transatlantic Culture Wars
Dr. Gwenaëlle Bauvois shows how a single legal case can reverberate far beyond its national context, becoming a transnational resource ...

War Beyond the Battlefield: Environmental and Human Security in Iran
In this commentary, Dr. Oludele Solaja examines the often-overlooked ecological consequences of modern warfare. Moving beyond traditional analyses focused on ...

Dr. Arian: Neither Foreign Powers nor Clerical Elites Represent the Iranian People
In this interview with the ECPS, Dr. Amir Ahmadi Arian offers a penetrating account of Iran at a moment of ...

Prof. Sundar: Almost Every Institution in India Has Been Subverted to Advance a Supremacist Agenda
In this interview with the ECPS, Professor Nandini Sundar (Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University) delivers a stark assessment of ...

Law, Order and the Lives in Between
In this Voice of Youth (VoY) article, Emmanouela Papapavlou delivers a powerful reflection on state violence, immigration enforcement, and the ...

Alcoholic Mobsters and Welfare Criminals: Xenophobia, Welfare Chauvinism and Populism in Gyurcsány Ferenc’s Facebook Posts on Ukrainian Citizens Prior to the War
Please cite as:Andits, Petra. (2026). “Alcoholic Mobsters and Welfare Criminals: Xenophobia, Welfare Chauvinism and Populism in Gyurcsány Ferenc’s Facebook Posts ...

Iran and Turkey through ‘The Golden Cage’ and ‘Contextual Gendered Racialization’ Lens: Populism, Law, Gender and Freedom
In this commentary, Dr. Hafza Girdap offers a compelling comparative analysis of populism, law, gender, and freedom across two authoritarian ...

ECPS Academy Summer School — Europe Between Oceans: The Future of the EU Trade Between the Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific (July 6-10, 2026)
Are you interested in global trade politics and the future of Europe in a shifting world order? Do you want ...

How Communication Style Shapes Political Trust More Than Populist Content in Domestic and International Politics
This commentary advances a critical intervention in debates on political persuasion by foregrounding original pilot research on communication and trust. ...

Power Transition in the Middle East: The Intersection of US Global Rivalries and Israel’s Regional Ambitions
In this long ECPS commentary, Professor Ibrahim Ozturk examines the 2026 US–Israeli strikes on Iran as part of a broader ...

Prof. Klein: Political Transformation in Iran May Come, but Not in the Way the West Expects
Professor Peter W. Klein offers a historically grounded warning against simplistic regime-change narratives in Iran. In this ECPS interview, the ...

Energy Geopolitics from Hormuz to Lagos: Commodity Shocks and African Vulnerability
In this analysis, Dr. Oludele Solaja examines how geopolitical tensions around the strategic oil chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz ...

Dr. Shahriari: Without Western Recognition, Rojava Lacks Leverage to Secure a Lasting Power-Sharing Deal with Damascus
In this ECPS interview, Dr. Soheila Shahriari offers a theoretically grounded diagnosis of Rojava’s most precarious post-ISIS moment. She argues ...

Prof. Hathaway: A Moment of Peril—and Possibility—to Reimagine the International Legal Order
Giving an interview to the ECPS, Professor Oona A. Hathaway reflects on the resilience and fragility of the post-1945 international ...

ECPS Panel at European Parliament: Populism, Trump, and Changing Transatlantic Relations
Please cite as:ECPS Staff (2026). “ECPS Panel at European Parliament: Populism, Trump, and Changing Transatlantic Relations.” European Center for Populism Studies (ECPS). February ...

How Communication Style Shapes Political Trust More Than Populist Content in Domestic and International Politics
This commentary advances a critical intervention in debates on political persuasion by foregrounding original pilot research on communication and trust. ...

French Court Ruling Convicting Marine Le Pen: Implications for the Future of the Far Right in France
DOWNLOAD ARTICLE Please cite as:Al-Sheikh Daoud, Emad Salah & Al-Dahlaki, Khudhair Abbas. (2026). “French Court Ruling Convicting Marine Le Pen: ...

I Have a Dream
In this compelling Voice of Youth (VoY) contribution, Emmanouela Papapavlou revisits the enduring moral and political legacy of Martin Luther ...

“Googling” Patterns during 2026 State of the Union Address – Research Note
This research note introduces high frequency “real-time” Google Trends data as a novel tool for studying public engagement with major ...

Prof. Kopstein: Trumpism, Better Understood in Patrimonial Terms, Treats the State as a Family Business
Professor Jeffrey Kopstein argues that Trumpism is best analyzed not primarily as populism, but as patrimonial rule—where “the state itself ...

Professor Hett: Trump Is Vastly Less Astute and Less Ruthless Than Hitler
Professor Benjamin Carter Hett, a leading historian of Nazi Germany at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, CUNY, joins ECPS ...

Prof. Costa Pinto: If Victorious, Ventura Would Pursue Orbán-Style Authoritarianism in Portugal
In this in-depth ECPS interview, Professor António Costa Pinto—one of Europe’s leading scholars of authoritarianism—offers a historically grounded analysis of ...

From Farce to Tragedy: The First Year of Trump’s Second Term and the Unmaking of America
In “From Farce to Tragedy,” the author traces the first year of Donald Trump’s second term as a turning point ...

Ten Years on with Brexit / Prof. Portes: Brexit Has Not Solved Britain’s Problems; It Made Them Worse
As the United Kingdom nears the tenth anniversary of the 2016 Brexit referendum, Professor Jonathan Portes offers a sober, evidence-based ...

When Change Becomes Conflict: Immigration and the Politics of Cultural Backlash
This analysis by Yacine Boubia challenges the dominant economic explanations of populism by foregrounding the central role of cultural transformation. ...

Dr. Henriksen: Strict Migration Policy in Denmark Fails to Contain the Radical Right
In this ECPS interview, Dr. Frederik Møller Henriksen offers an in-depth assessment of Denmark’s 2026 general election, highlighting both continuity ...

UNTOLD Europe Workshop – Case Study Session Report
The interactive case study session of the UNTOLD Europe Workshop (Brussels, 21 October 2025) translated critical discussions on colonial legacies, ...

Towards Coherent and Human Rights-Based Migration Governance in Europe: Addressing Structural Imbalances in the Light of Colonial Narratives on Migration in Europe
This policy paper, developed from the Untold Europe workshop (Brussels, 21 October 2025), examines structural imbalances in European migration governance across three ...

The Illiberal Bargain on Migration
Please cite as:Andersson, Ruben. (2026). “The Illiberal Bargain on Migration.” In: Populism and the Future of Transatlantic Relations: Challenges and ...

Law, Order and the Lives in Between
In this Voice of Youth (VoY) article, Emmanouela Papapavlou delivers a powerful reflection on state violence, immigration enforcement, and the ...

Alcoholic Mobsters and Welfare Criminals: Xenophobia, Welfare Chauvinism and Populism in Gyurcsány Ferenc’s Facebook Posts on Ukrainian Citizens Prior to the War
Please cite as:Andits, Petra. (2026). “Alcoholic Mobsters and Welfare Criminals: Xenophobia, Welfare Chauvinism and Populism in Gyurcsány Ferenc’s Facebook Posts ...

ECPS Academy Summer School — Europe Between Oceans: The Future of the EU Trade Between the Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific (July 6-10, 2026)
Are you interested in global trade politics and the future of Europe in a shifting world order? Do you want ...

I Have a Dream
In this compelling Voice of Youth (VoY) contribution, Emmanouela Papapavlou revisits the enduring moral and political legacy of Martin Luther ...

March 8th: For Every Victory That Was Not Considered Important
In this reflective Voice of Youth (VoY) commentary for International Women’s Day, Emmanouela Papapavlou examines how gender hierarchy persists not ...

To Where? On Language, Identity, Belonging, and the Cost of Silence
In this reflective essay, 15-year old Sojoud Al-Hjouj interrogates the intimate relationship between language, identity, and authenticity in contemporary life. ...

Law, Order and the Lives in Between
In this Voice of Youth (VoY) article, Emmanouela Papapavlou delivers a powerful reflection on state violence, immigration enforcement, and the ...

Voting with Freebies: How Direct Welfare Benefits Reshape Electoral Behaviour in India
In this analytically rich commentary, ECPS Youth Group member Saurabh Raj examines how direct welfare delivery is transforming electoral politics ...

The Humanity of Migration
In this timely and powerful Voice of Youth (VoY) essay, Emmanouela Papapavlou reframes migration not as a crisis or threat, ...

November 25: The Normalization of Violence and the Forgetting That Keeps It Alive
In this compelling VoY essay, Emmanouela Papapavlou confronts the uncomfortable truth behind society’s yearly cycle of remembrance on November 25th. ...
Security at What Cost? Punitive Populism and Democratic Trade-offs in Ecuador