ABSTRACT
In the past 6 years, new types of party have been successful in the countries of Southern Europe. Podemos in Spain and the Five Star Movement (FSM) in Italy challenge the party systems using a rhetoric similar to that of populist movements. Yet, these new parties are indeed very different from the populist radical right parties for their programmes and for the attitudes of their activists and voters. The central question addressed is whether Podemos and the FSM outline a new type of populist parties, which can play an important role in the transformation of democratic regimes.
