ABSTRACT
The last chapter offers a comprehensive assessment of the theoretical argument of the book as applied to the eight country cases selected. It also assesses the external validity of the argument through a brief analysis of the evolution of the leftist segment of the party systems in the aftermath of major neoliberal crises in Brazil (outcome: strengthening of the labour-based Left), Ecuador and France (outcome: emergence of leader-initiated anti-neoliberal populisms). Then the chapter introduces some normative reflections over the differential impacts of the emergence of anti-neoliberal populisms in terms of quality of democracy and of democratic representation. The last section indicates some research agendas that this book has left unexplored, such as: the challenges faced by the unions to represent popular sectors in times of labour fragmentation and precariousness, an account of the mechanisms leading to the hegemony of populist radical right parties over ‘mainstream’ right-wing parties in recent times and the analysis of the phase of (eventual) consolidation of anti-neoliberal populist parties in Southern Europe.
