Overview

Populism is an expression of anger; its appeal stems from being presented as the solution to disorder in our times. The vision of democracy, society, and the economy it offers is coherent and attractive. At a time when the words and slogans of the left have lost much of their power to inspire, Pierre Rosanvallon takes populism for what it is: the rising ideology of the twenty-first century. In The Populist Century he develops a rigorous theoretical account of populism, distinguishing five key features that make up populist political culture; he retraces its history in modern democracies from the mid-nineteenth century to the present; and he offers a well-reasoned critique of populism, outlining a robust democratic alternative. This wide-ranging and insightful account of the theory and practice of populism will be of great interest to students and scholars in politics and the social sciences and to anyone concerned with the key political questions of our time.

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9781509546282

Table of Contents

Reviews

This is not just a book about populism, important though that is, but contains vital reflections on the nature of democracy. Rosanvallon views democracy as a permanent exploration, to be developed through multiple procedures and institutions - the opposite of the way it is understood by populism, which dangerously sees democracy as the politicization of all institutions under the centralized control of a leader. Colin Crouch, Emeritus Professor at the University of Warwick

This is not just a book about populism, important though that is, but contains vital reflections on the nature of democracy. Rosanvallon views democracy as a permanent exploration, to be developed through multiple procedures and institutions - the opposite of the way it is understood by populism, which dangerously sees democracy as the politicization of all institutions under the centralized control of a leader. Colin Crouch, Emeritus Professor at the University of Warwick Multi-faceted and challenging, The Populist Century is important reading for scholars of populism and democracy alike. Journal of Populism Studies

Author Information

Pierre Rosanvallon is Professor at the Collège de France and the author of many books on political theory and democracy, including Good Government, The Society of Equals and Counter-Democracy.

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