ABSTRACT

This chapter provides inspiration and a fruitful starting point for future empirical research on both populist actors as communicators and political actors as populist communicators. The development of systematic empirical research aimed at comparing the political communication strategies, tactics, styles, and rhetoric of populist with non-populist actors should therefore be a priority in future research on populist communication. The chapter reviews the research on populist political communication across Europe. In Europe, populist actors are often equated with extreme-right, anti-immigration attitudes and nationalism. In Eastern European countries, concerns revolve around other ethnic and religious minorities, such as ethnic Hungarians in Romania or Roma minorities in the Czech Republic and Romania. In fact, many different elements are subsumed under the populist label: nationalism, regionalism, Euroskepticism, opposition to immigration, anti-multiculturalism, anti-establishmentarianism, anti-corruptionism, and anti-elitism as well as demands for increased citizen participation and more direct forms of democracy.