Institute for Global Change

High Tide? Populism in Power, 1990-2020

The Populism in Power database offers the first truly global look at the populist phenomenon that has been shaking up established political parties around the world. We find that populism reached a global high point in around 2010, where it has remained relatively steady ever since. This report updates our Populism in Power data through today, highlighting the newly-elected populist leaders and where populists have lost power.

Paper | 7th Feb 2020

Populism & Policy: Where to go from here

Commentary | 19th Dec 2019

The Populist Harm to Democracy: An Empirical Assessment

Populist rule—whether from the right or the left—has a highly negative effect on political systems and leads to a significant risk of democratic erosion.

Paper | 26th Dec 2018

Several women hold up signs with slogans reading "Keep America Great" and "Promises Made. Promises Kept".

Populists in Power Around the World

Only with a clear and systematic understanding of the phenomenon of populism can political leaders begin to offer meaningful and credible alternatives. This report sets out to define populism from a global perspective and identify some of its key trends since 1990.

Report | 7th Nov 2018

The United Nations Security Council meets at New York Headquarters.

Authoritarian Challenges to the Liberal Order

Authoritarian states present serious challenges to liberal democracies and to the liberal world order. Democracies must engage constructively with great-power rivals, but they must also respond urgently and collectively to defend against, deter and counter these challenges to their values.

Report | 21st Jun 2018

Someone holds up a Make America Great Again sign at a Trump rally.

Confronting Populist Anxieties: How the Centre-Left Can Quell the Far-Right Surge

Neither economic nor cultural factors alone can explain rising levels of support for populist platforms. Instead, studies of voting trends in Western democracies suggest that such support is driven by anxieties about unmoored identities and uncertain futures. The centre-left can reclaim the mantle of change in the 21st century in six ways.

Report | 7th Mar 2018

European Populism: Trends, Threats and Future Prospects

Europe’s political landscape is undergoing the biggest transformation since the end of the Cold War. Over the past two decades, populist parties have steadily increased their support, entering most national parliaments across the continent. In many countries, they have even taken over the levers of government. An unprecedented populist belt now covers a big and strategically important stretch of Central and Eastern Europe, from the Baltic Sea all the way to the Aegean.

Report | 29th Dec 2017

Paths to Power: Austrian Populism and the Significance of the 2017 Elections

Right-wing populists have a long history of political success in Austria. In the 1999 elections, the far-Right FPÖ became the party with the second-highest vote share and entered a coalition government with the conservative ÖVP that lasted until 2006. The 2017 elections are likely to lead to a renewal of this conservative-populist alliance.

Report | 19th Oct 2017

The Geography of German Populism: Reflections on the 2017 Bundestag Election

The 2017 German elections marked a turning point in the country’s political history. The populist AfD has surged to become the third-largest party nationwide, has beaten the Social Democrats in large parts of Eastern and Southern Germany, and has siphoned voters from the far Left and the centre.

Report | 28th Sep 2017

Populism: Passing Fad or New Political Era?

Opening speech made by Tony Blair on ‘Populism: Passing Fad or New Political Era?’ at a panel session for the Milken Institute.

Commentary | 1st May 2017

Renewing Liberal Democracy

Born in West Germany in 1982, I always took for granted that I would get to live in societies that are affluent, peaceful, and democratic.

Commentary | 16th Mar 2017