Heterogeneous drivers of heterogeneous populism

a column by Italo Colantone and Piero Stanig for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal

Populist parties tend to share an anti-establishment stance and the claim to represent ordinary people versus the elites.

This column, part of the Vox debate on populism, argues that despite these similarities, populist parties are fundamentally heterogeneous and the drivers of their support tend to be diverse. It also argues that the economy and culture should be seen as tightly interrelated rather than mutually exclusive explanations for the populist surge, and that rather than being a simple ‘protest vote’, the surge might reflect a new political cleavage resulting from the contraposition of winners and losers from structural economic changes.

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