ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part analyzes the three most influential contemporary theories of populism focusing on their conceptual, methodological, and normative claims. It argues that Laclau's notion of populist rupture would work better in presidentialist than in parliamentary systems, and in democracies undergoing crisis of representation. The part discusses political/strategic approaches to populism. This theory defines it as a political strategy to get to power and to govern, based on anti-establishment appeals, and top-down mobilization. The part analyzes the origins, the main theoretical premises, and the research agendas of scholars working with ideational approaches. It argues for the superiority of ideational over alternative theories. The part shows how scholars have identified and quantified populist ideas including attitudes and discourses. It argues that this approach, because it uses a minimum definition that could travel, is the most useful for global studies of populism.
