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In the last decade, there have been numerous studies on the rise, characteristics, and consequences of the emergence of populist parties in Western liberal democracies. However, most analyses of European populist parties have focused on the right-wing populist parties. Although some scholars have made valuable efforts to understand left-wing populism in Europe, these studies have paid attention to their ideological-organizational idiosyncrasies or the characteristics of their electoral bases. This paper aims to fill the gap in the economic and political contexts in which Radical Left Populist Parties have achieved significant electoral results putting into practice a fsQCA analysis and examining their uneven electoral performance in Europe. Following some previous work applying QCA techniques, this paper tests the theory on the importance of economic and political factors. Findings indicate that the electoral performance of radical left populism cannot be explained in a univocal way, highlighting the crucial role of equifinality in understanding this political phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is commonly assumed that far-right populist and nationalist movements and parties emerge within, and in reaction to, liberal international orders. This paper challenges that assumption. It shows that, while the rise of the far-right in interwar Europe and in recent decades in the Global North occurred during periods characterized by globalization, it was a globalization that was essentially anti-liberal in nature. During both periods, globalization was shaped, not by a liberal, competitive ethos, but by conservative and counter-revolutionary values and ideologies, and by policies which worked to 'dis-embed' local economies, promote concentration and monopoly, and widen inequality. Far-right politics emerged, therefore, in reaction, not to liberalism, but to established conservative parties which appeared either unable or unwilling to suppress pressures from 'below' and as, therefore, too weak or corrupt to ensure the continuation of conservative policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discussing An Outline of a Theory of Civilization by the Japanese thinker Fukuzawa Yukichi, this essay shows how theorists of liberal nationalism might draw on "non-Western" theoretical resources to enrich their normative ideas and better appreciate their own tradition. I argue that Fukuzawa's work represents an alternative strand of liberal nationalism that complements its mainstream counterpart pioneered by David Miller, Yael Tamir, and others. More specifically, I argue that Fukuzawa's contributions help us reconsider three central claims made by his more mainstream peers: (1) cosmopolitanism poses the most important threat to liberal nationalism, (2) the strength of liberal nationalism lies in its perceptiveness about ordinary people's sense of national belonging, and (3) liberal nationalism emerged in mid-nineteenth-century Europe and spread elsewhere in the age of decolonization. In so doing, I show how the current "comparative turn" in political theory can benefit a specific debate—on liberal nationalism—within the discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenomenon of populism and its relationship with modern democracy has gained considerable attention in recent years. This article aims at advancing our understanding of how populism affects different models of democracy and tests the proposed arguments empirically. Building on a large scholarly literature on populism and democracy, we take stock of existing arguments and theorize which democratic models may be affected by populism in a positive or negative way. Moreover, we move beyond the normative debate and analyse the effect of populism in power on different models of democracy empirically. We do so by merging data on populist governments in Europe and Latin America from 1995 until today with the Varieties of Democracy dataset, which enables us to capture the relationship between populism and different democratic models in these regions. Despite mixed‐theoretical expectations, our results suggest a rather negative impact of populism on the electoral, liberal and deliberative models of democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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An institutionalized party system is often regarded as a precondition for a well-functioning democracy. Recent recesses in democracy and, in particular, in the liberal dimension of democracy in relatively established party systems, however, warrant a fresh look into how party system institutionalization shapes liberal democracy. We use a dataset that covers 58 European party systems over more than a century to assess how party system institutionalization in the governmental arena – closure – is related to more robust liberal democracy. Our results show that stable coalition combinations are conducive to higher levels of liberalism, while infrequent government changes and the exclusion of new parties from the governmental arena have a detrimental role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Trakya University Journal of Social Science is the property of Trakya University, Institute of Social Sciences 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.)

Copyright of Ayer: Revista de Historia Contemporánea is the property of Asociacion de Historia Contemporanea 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.)

The transatlantic religious networks promoted by Americans after World War I not only delivered human and financial resources but they also brought about significant changes in religious and political thought and practice in Europe. The experiences, networks and narratives created through two world wars equipped Europe with an ideological arsenal, which it marshalled against the Soviet threat during the cultural Cold War and which provided the European integration process with resources and legitimacy. The invocation of 'spirit' proved an extremely effective way of legitimizing the European project: it identified materialism as the seed of destruction of civilization; it promoted an interfaith narrative that was acceptable to different churches and religious sensibilities; and it represented human rights as the historical legacy of Christianity. Salvador de Madariaga's life reflects the evolution of the role of religion in the twentieth century, especially with regard to non-denominational Christianity. He was a committed missionary of ecumenist global civic conscience and a crusader for freedom of conscience against totalitarian interference. His defence of liberalism and his repeated calls for a cultural construction of Europe were rooted in his conviction of the intrinsically spiritual nature of all human beings, his identification with the legacy of Christianity and his desire to guarantee universal freedom of spirit. This article analyses documents from Madariaga's personal archive and other archives in Europe and America in order to chronicle his spiritual journey and to understand his crusade to create a 'Europe of the spirit'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noel D. Johnson and Mark Koyama's book, Persecution and Toleration: The Long Road to Religious Freedom, examines the links between religion, state action, and the development of liberalism in medieval Europe. It discusses a model of "conditional toleration"; how the interaction between religion and state influences persecution and discrimination against minorities; and how religious freedom eventually paved the way for scientific advances, liberalism, and economic growth. It tackles issues such as fiscal capacity, anti-Semitism in Europe, plagues including the Black Death, heresy in the Spanish Inquisition, witchcraft trials, the Holocaust, climate shocks, and the growth of cities with emergent religious minorities. It discusses these issues for a range of countries in medieval Europe, providing rich historical detail and interpretive depth for its main argument. This is a deeply evocative book that makes an important contribution to the new economics of religion. Carefully researched and thoughtfully crafted, the themes it discusses and the ideas it raises have relevance not only for medieval European societies, with which it is principally concerned, but also for contemporary economies everywhere. (JEL D72, N13, N33, N43, Z12) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]