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The literature maintains that not all populisms are equal. Some are seen as projects of regeneration or democratisation because they would incorporate an excluded people; others are movements that would weaken democracy by promoting exclusion (xenophobia and racism). The former is "left-wing populism" while the latter is "right-wing populism". This paper shows that what is central to populism is its model of democracy, not whether it is situated on the right or the left. To do this, an evaluation is made of the democratic balance of populisms in three countries in Europe (Austria, France and Hungary) and three in Latin America (Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela). As will be shown, those of the right have no more contributed to the destruction of democracy than those on the left may be presented as democratising successes; but all represent a profound challenge to liberal democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Communication Theories are one of the main pillars of many higher education studies that, placing communication as its core topic, have raised public presence during the last two decades at universities worldwide. However, this ongoing process of consolidation inside the scholar field is not walking together with an objective analysis of the ontological and epistemological positions serving as milestones for Communication Theories' courses. Taking an international online survey as the initial source of information, completed by professors and lectures working at different European and Latin American countries, this paper collects some useful information about the positions and the content of these courses, bringing some light in a confusing fieldwork. If the goal of a common higher education area is real, then deep comparative studies like this must be carried out. Results appeal to a clear dominance of Mass Communications as the main topic inside these courses, although there is a high level of interdisciplinary approaches. Some of the requirements established by the new European Higher Education Area are not implemented in the expected competencies for the students, although they are all present in the courses' objectives. Professors and lecturers are conscious about the new standard set by the Bologna Process, but this consciousness did not arrive to the classrooms yet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista del CLAD Reforma y Democracia is the property of Centro Latinoamericano de Administracion para el Desarrollo (CLAD) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)