Positions on populism in the European Parliament

2025/10/13 by Ludvig Norman · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Populism, Right-Wing Movements #European Union Policy and Governance #German legal, social, and political studies

paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/07036337.2025.2573277

openalex publication_date 2025/10/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/14 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/21

Abstract

This article examines how Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) rhetorically position themselves in relation to populism. Drawing on plenary speeches from 1999 to 2019, it shows how references to populism help define political opposition and set the boundaries of cooperation. The study finds that left-leaning MEPs often associate populism with the far right and anti-democratic threats, while right-leaning MEPs adopt more ambivalent or generalized framings. These patterns reflect both ideological orientations and the strategic outlook of political groups, especially as cooperation with populist actors becomes more politically feasible. By tracing how rhetorical strategies vary across the political spectrum, the article sheds light on how populism is negotiated within the European Parliament and underscores the role of rhetoric in contestation and coalition-building in this setting.

Citations

• Trust the People! Populism and the Two Faces of Democracy
• Immigration sceptics, xenophobes or racists? Radical right‐wing voting in six West European countries
• The Populist Zeitgeist
• If you can't Beat them, Join them? Explaining Social Democratic Responses to the Challenge from the Populist Radical Right in Western Europe
• Exclusionary vs. Inclusionary Populism: Comparing Contemporary Europe and Latin America
• Between nationalism and civilizationism: the European populist moment in comparative perspective
• Ethno‐nationalist populism and the mobilization of collective resentment
• Dissecting Electoral Support for the Far Right: A Comparison between Mature and Post-Communist European Democracies

Discussions

• New article: Positions on Populism in the European Parliament Examines the meanings that Members of the European Parliament assign to the populist phenomenon in a new data set containing all mentions [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]