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Populism has often been described as a great challenge and threat to Western democracies. Not surprisingly, at a time in which we are witnessing a significant rise in populist actors in Europe and the US, scientific analyses and commentary regarding populism have become particularly popular and, indeed, necessary. My aim in this article is to offer a brief yet comprehensive overview of the ongoing debates in a bid to problematise the supposed 'imminent threat' of populism in light of recent developments within the political systems and societies of established democracies, especially under conditions of crisis. I understand populism as a specific type of discourse, and thus as a way-among others-of doing politics and appealing to groups of people. Thus, I highlight the varying orientations that populist movements might take, depending on the ideological traditions with which they are closely articulated and the sociopolitical environment in which they manifest. Last, I relate the 'populist surge' to discussions regarding post-democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years many scholars have diagnosed a crisis of party politics. This article considers recent changes in the UK and Europe that appear to challenge this idea. Exploring Colin Crouch's notion of 'post-democratic' party politics and considering his diagnosis of shifts in parties' agenda setting, organisation and communication, the article considers evidence of post-democratic politics and the possibility for future renewal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the relations between society and politics in Central and Eastern Europe, focusing on three national cases: Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. The analysis is based on the data collected through a large scale survey involving six European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland). The project aims at assessing both the degree and patterns of the citizens' involvement in politics and at identifying the factors underlying participation and people's attitudes, by adopting a cross-national comparative perspective. The results challenge civic deficit and tabula rasa theories which see the low political involvement as a result of weak civic virtues and the high social fragmentation produced by the legacies of former communist regimes. The analyses show that the present configuration exhibited by post-communist Europe, in terms of both political participation repertoires and citizens' political attitudes, reflects transformations that have been already observed in Western Europe. The pattern emerging in these countries can be thus placed in a common East/West framework, and explained as a result of an «evolutionary leap», as post-communist societies seem to have experienced a (rapid) shift from a «non-democratic» to a «post-democratic» regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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