Populocracy: The Tyranny of Authenticity and the Rise of Populism

Populism has become a significant feature of mature democracies in the twenty-first century and the rise of populist parties is proving a powerful and disruptive force. Catherine Fieschi offers a comparative analysis of the rise of populist parties in France, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK in the context of major digital and political transformations. 

Populism is effective, Fieschi shows, because it originates from within the democratic tradition and has been able to turn some of democracy’s key strengths against it – what she calls Jiu-jitsu politics. Populism needs to be understood not simply as a response to globalization by the “disillusioned” or “left behind”, but as a consequence of the digital revolution on our political and democratic expectations. 

She demonstrates how new dynamics unleashed by social media – the fantasy of radical transparency, the demand for immediacy and the rejection of expert truth and facts – have been harnessed by populism, enabling it to make unprecedented inroads into our political landscapes.

"Catherine Fieschi examines why populism and populist parties have become a feature of our politics. Populism's appeal, she argues, needs to be understood as a response to the fundamental reshaping of our political, economic and social spheres through globalisation and the digital revolution".

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Catherine Fieschi is founder and executive director of Counterpoint, a London-based consultancy on social and cultural dynamics. She was previously director of research at the British Council and director of the leading think tank Demos. She is a senior research fellow at the Institute for Global Prosperity, University College London and a senior fellow of the London School of Economics. Her books include Fascism, Populism and the French Fifth Republic.