populism, polarization, and the changing electoral landscape

Description

A rejection of mainstream politics by citizens and new political actors has become a powerful force. This is often labelled “populism” (but is that the best term?). Furthermore, as mainstream parties decline and the political debate moves to the Twittersphere, politics seems more divisive and fragmented than before. This could be called “polarization”. In this course, we study these two phenomena within the broader context of the academic literature on political behavior, public opinion, and democracy. You develop a thorough understanding of terms that often feature in headlines, but are complex phenomena as well as moving targets. In this course, we engage with theoretical and especially empirical work to find out how we can understand populism and polarization. We investigate the competing conceptualizations of these and related terms. We study how their manifestation differs across contexts and how "new" divisive politics actually is (or isn’t). We investigate why they blossom in some places, and at particular times, but not at others, by looking at their roots in factors such as electoral systems, politicians’ behavior, the rise of new actors and issues, economic crisis and globalization, “identity politics”, or the rise of social media. Finally, we investigate how all these developments affect the health of democracy and society at large, and what interventions might help to reduce excessively divisive politics. On topics such as these, the public debate is crowded with definitions and explanations. Luckily, political scientists have provided top-notch theories and evidence that allow to find out what is really going on. At the end of the course, you are an expert on questions like these: What is populism, what is polarization, and how useful are these terms? Why is populism successful in some countries but not others? What forms of polarization are good for democracy, and which forms erode democracy? Does politics divide us more than in the past? In what way, and why? How are populism and polarization rooted in economic, social and cultural transformations? Which issues are most polarizing and why? Are we locked up in “echo chambers” that make us ever more extreme and encourage conspiracies? Why do many mainstream parties (left and right) decline and fragment, and why are others still successful? What solutions are there against harmful populism and harmful polarization? In the first part of the course, we focus on understanding the two main concepts (populism and polarization), in what forms and shapes they come, and how to appreciate them in relation to demoracy. In the second part of the course we study a set of (alleged) causes and consequences of populism and polarization. Objectives: In this course we study the way elections, party politics, and social movements are transforming in the 21st century, with a focus on populism and polarization. The goal is to develop an understanding of, and engagement with: The different conceptualizations of the key terms such as ‘populism’ and ‘polarization’ as well as related concepts The causes and consequences of the rise of new actors challenging mainstream politics, and the reasons for variation in their success Various divisions that exist in societies and how they translate politically The factors that foster or weaken various types of political polarization Key concepts and theories of the literature on political behavior and party politics competences: Engagement with theories about political phenomena competences: The ability to interpret and engage with empirical studies, and relate these to theoretical discussions competences: Do some small-scale empirical research yourself competences: Write a coherent paper about a political science topic competences: Engage in informed, constructive and effective discussions on political phenomena, theories, and empirical evidence