Populism

In a recent release of the Authoritarian Populism Index 2024, Bulgaria emerges as a focal point for understanding the intricate interplay of political ideologies shaping Europe's landscape. Published by Timbro and EPICENTER, the index, presented in Bulgarian by the Institute for Market Economics, offers a comprehensive analysis spanning decades of electoral dynamics.

Former Prime Minister and ex-leader of the main opposition SYRIZA party Alexis Tsipras voiced concerns about the surge of far-right populism in the Greek politics, during a panel discussion at the 9th Delphi Economic Forum on Thursday. 

"Democracy is always unfinished business. It is not a recipe for Paradise on Earth," John Keane, the renowned professor of political science at the University of Sydney, tells Kathimerini.

Populism in its various forms, be it from the far right or far left, is the greatest danger facing all the European countries, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has told the final day of his New Democracy party's congress.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel has delivered an address at a meeting of Socialist International in the Spanish capital Madrid on the growing influence of far-right ideologies.

Escaping the grip of populism requires a combination of honesty and flexibility, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said.

In an "post-populist," 1,000-word contribution to the "By Invitation" series in the Economist, Mitsotakis discussed the means he mobilized to deal with the "rise of populism."

Greece's main opposition party suffered a split Sunday when a left-wing faction announced it was breaking away, accusing the party's recently elected leader of abandoning its core ideology for a sort of "right-wing populism."

Democracy is under threat across the world. Fewer people today live in democracies than did two decades ago. Opposition to democracy, and to capitalism, has grown as populists launch "culture wars" - cruelly exploiting migrants and minorities - and appeal to the socially and economically excluded. This is a cocktail variously stirred by Trump, Brexit, Modi, Le Pen, Orban and Meloni.

Half of the world's countries are suffering democratic decline, ranging from flawed elections to curtailed rights including freedoms of expression and assembly, an intergovernmental watchdog group said on Thursday.

Elections are not determined only by the programs presented by the candidates. Sometimes the result is decided by volatile, emotional factors.