Populism Studies

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Populism Studies

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The European Center for Populism Studies (ECPS) is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organisation, based in Brussels, for research on and analysis of challenges posed by increasing political populism.

16/10/2026

📢 ECPS | Voice of Youth (VoY)

🇵🇰 Leader-Centrism and Polarization: Tracing the Determinants of Youth Voting Behavior

✍️ By Hafiz Hamza Wyne

🗳️ What drives youth voting in Pakistan—charismatic leadership, political ideology, party loyalty, or digital mobilization?

🌍 In this Voice of Youth (VoY) commentary, Hafiz Hamza Wyne examines the determinants of youth electoral behavior through a survey of 200 university students in Lahore, highlighting the growing personalization of politics and its implications for democratic participation.

📊 Leader-Centrism: 73.5% of respondents voted primarily because of party leadership, revealing the powerful influence of charismatic political figures.

⚖️ Political Accountability: Despite strong leader-centric loyalties, 72% emphasize leadership responsibility and accountability, suggesting that youth political allegiance is not unconditional.

📱 Digital Mobilization: 68% follow political parties online, while 54% follow political rallies, demonstrating the combined influence of digital platforms and traditional campaigning.

🔎 Ideological Polarization: Deep divisions persist over religiously aligned voting, with 38.5% opposing and 26.5% supporting religious parties.

🏛️ Democratic Implications: The findings raise critical questions about whether Pakistan’s expanding youth electorate will reinforce personalized political loyalties or strengthen institutional accountability and democratic participation.

❓ Can youth political engagement advance democratic consolidation, or will charismatic leadership and digital polarization deepen existing divisions?

📖 Read the ECPS VoY Commentary: 🔗 https://www.populismstudies.org/leader-centrism-and-polarization-tracing-the-determinants-of-youth-voting-behavior/

16/10/2026

📢 ECPS Interview / VIDEO 🎥

🇧🇷 Prof. Lucio Rennó: Brazil Faces Unusual Democratic Backsliding Through Legislative Authoritarianism

🎙️ Interview by Selcuk Gultasli

🏛️ Can democratic backsliding originate in Congress rather than the presidency? As Brazil approaches its October 25 presidential runoff between Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro, Professor Lucio Rennó (), political scientist at the University of Brasília, offers a critical analysis of the institutionalization of Bolsonarismo, the concentration of legislative power, and the future of Brazilian democracy.

⚖️ Legislative Authoritarianism: Professor Rennó identifies an unusual trajectory of democratic erosion in which Congress, rather than the executive, becomes the principal center of power concentration.

💬 “What we're witnessing in Brazil today is a rather unusual process of democratic backsliding, in which power-grabbing and the centralization of power are occurring primarily within Congress rather than the executive branch.”

🏛️ Authoritarian Enclaves & Judicial Independence: Drawing on The Crisis of Democracy in Brazil, co-authored with Leonardo Avritzer, Professor Rennó examines the institutional legacies of military rule and the risks of congressional efforts to weaken the Supreme Court and other mechanisms of horizontal accountability.

🗳️ Bolsonarismo Beyond Bolsonaro: How has a charismatic political movement become institutionalized within the Liberal Party (PL), consolidating its influence across Brazil's political right?

🌐 Polarization & Political Identities: Professor Rennó examines how the rivalry between Bolsonarismo and Petismo has evolved beyond electoral competition, producing increasingly entrenched political identities that shape everyday social relations.

🛡️ Democratic Resilience: Despite growing institutional pressures, Professor Rennó highlights the vital role of civil society, judicial institutions, and organized political opposition in defending constitutional democracy.

❓Is Brazil witnessing the emergence of legislative authoritarianism? Could the October 25 runoff accelerate democratic erosion—or strengthen the forces of democratic resistance?

🎥 Watch the ECPS interview for Professor Rennó's insights into Brazil's political transformation, institutional vulnerabilities, and democratic future. 🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acvXucCXQOY

📖 Read the full interview: 🔗 https://www.populismstudies.org/prof-renno-brazil-faces-unusual-democratic-backsliding-through-legislative-authoritarianism/

16/10/2026

📢 ECPS Interview / VIDEO 🎥

🔴🇺🇸 Prof. Adolph Reed Jr.: The Structural Contradictions That Gave Rise to Trumpism Remain Unresolved

🎙️ Interview by Selcuk Gultasli

❓ As the United States approaches the November 3, 2026, midterm elections, why does Trumpism remain politically resilient? Can authoritarian nationalism be understood without examining neoliberal capitalism, class inequality, and the erosion of working-class political organization?

🌍 In this thought-provoking ECPS video interview, Professor Adolph Reed Jr., Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania, offers a historically grounded critique of Trumpism, authoritarianism, racial politics, and the structural contradictions of capitalist democracy.

🚨 Trumpism & Authoritarianism: “The structural contradictions aren't going anywhere,” Professor Reed warns. He argues that tensions between capitalist accumulation and democratic legitimacy will continue to create opportunities for authoritarian political movements unless their underlying causes are confronted.

🔎 Race, Class & Political Economy: Challenging race-reductionist interpretations of political behavior and inequality, Professor Reed examines how neoliberalism has marginalized class politics and obscured the material and institutional foundations of social divisions.

⚖️ Democratic Socialism & Electoral Politics: Drawing on his involvement in both Bernie Sanders presidential campaigns, Professor Reed emphasizes the limitations of electoral mobilization without durable political organization: 💬 “You can't elect your way to social transformation, at least not without an organizational base.”

✊ Rebuilding Working-Class Solidarity: Professor Reed advocates sustained grassroots organization, universalist politics, and a democratic-socialist alternative capable of confronting economic inequality and authoritarian nationalism beyond electoral cycles.

📚 The conversation offers critical insights into Trumpism, fascism, populism, neoliberalism, racial ideology, democratic socialism, and the future of the American left.

🎥 Watch the interview to hear Professor Reed’s analysis of why Trumpism's structural foundations persist—and what it would take to build a transformative political alternative. 🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssmjkSfEytU

📖 Read the interview: 🔗 https://www.populismstudies.org/prof-reed-the-structural-contradictions-that-gave-rise-to-trumpism-remain-unresolved/

15/10/2026

📢 ECPS Interview / VIDEO 🎥

🇪🇺 MEP Hanna Gedin: The EU Is Losing Its Voice When It Comes to Upholding International Law

🎙️ Interview by Selcuk Gultasli

📺 In this ECPS video interview, Hanna Gedin (), Member of the European Parliament for Sweden’s Vänsterpartiet (Left Party) and Vice-Chair of The Left Group, discusses the normalization of radical-right politics, migration, inequality, democratic legitimacy, and the EU’s increasingly contested commitment to human rights and international law.

⚖️ International Law & Double Standards: Gedin warns that “the EU is losing its voice when it comes to upholding international law,” criticizing what she describes as double standards in Europe’s responses to Russia’s war against Ukraine and Israel’s actions. She urges the EU to “show some backbone.”

🚨 Migration & the Radical Right: Gedin denounces the EU’s growing “adaptation to the radical right,” recalling MEPs chanting “Send them back, send them back” during a vote on return hubs. She also highlights how Sweden’s debate over teenage deportations has humanized migration politics.

🗳️ The Future of the Democratic Left: Rejecting the normalization of far-right narratives, Gedin insists: “For the left, it’s really important not to adapt.” Instead, she argues, “You need to have your own agenda.”

💶 Inequality & Everyday Insecurity: Gedin calls for a renewed focus on housing, energy prices, taxation, and the cost of living, emphasizing the need to “make life a good life without adapting to the far right and their narrative.”

🎥 Watch the interview and hear MEP Hanna Gedin’s perspective on the challenges facing European democracy and the political left. 🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFcw1iXM-Gk

📖 Read the full interview: 🔗 https://www.populismstudies.org/mep-gedin-the-eu-is-losing-its-voice-when-it-comes-to-upholding-international-law/

15/10/2026

📢 ECPS Interview

🇧🇷 Prof. Lucio Rennó: Brazil Faces Unusual Democratic Backsliding Through Legislative Authoritarianism

✍️ Interview by Selcuk Gultasli

🏛️ Can democratic backsliding originate in Parliament rather than the presidency? As Brazil approaches its October 25 presidential runoff between Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro, Professor Lucio Rennó (), a political scientist at the University of Brasília, offers a compelling scholarly analysis of the institutionalization of Bolsonarismo, the changing balance of political power, and the future of Brazilian democracy.

⚖️ Legislative Authoritarianism: Rennó identifies an unusual pattern of democratic erosion in which power increasingly concentrates in Congress rather than the executive branch: 💬 “What we're witnessing in Brazil today is a rather unusual process of democratic backsliding, in which power-grabbing and the centralization of power are occurring primarily within Congress rather than the executive branch.”

🏛️ Authoritarian Enclaves and Judicial Independence: Drawing on The Crisis of Democracy in Brazil, co-authored with Leonardo Avritzer, Professor Rennó examines institutional legacies of military rule and the prospect of congressional efforts to weaken the Supreme Court and institutions of horizontal accountability.

🗳️ Bolsonarismo Beyond Bolsonaro: The interview explores how a charismatic political movement has become institutionalized within the Liberal Party (PL), consolidating its position on the Brazilian right.

🌐 Polarization and Political Identities: Professor Rennó examines the deepening divide between Bolsonarismo and Petismo, arguing that Brazil is witnessing political identities that increasingly transcend electoral competition and reshape everyday social relations.

🛡️ Democratic Resilience: Despite these challenges, Professor Rennó highlights the continuing importance of civil society, the judiciary, and organized political opposition in defending constitutional democracy.

❓ Is Brazil witnessing a distinctive form of legislative authoritarianism—and what could the October 25 runoff mean for democratic accountability?

📖 Read the full interview for Professor Rennó's analysis of Brazil's evolving political and institutional landscape. 🔗 https://www.populismstudies.org/prof-renno-brazil-faces-unusual-democratic-backsliding-through-legislative-authoritarianism/

15/10/2026

🎥 ECPS Interview / VIDEO

🇪🇺 MEP Brando Benifei: An Alliance of Interests Between the Extreme Right and Techno-Oligarchs Threatens Our Democracies

🎙️ Interview by Selcuk Gultasli

🌍 In this wide-ranging video interview with the European Center for Populism Studies (ECPS), MEP Brando Benifei (Brando Benifei), Chair of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with the United States and a key architect of the EU AI Act, examines the growing intersection of Big Tech power, far-right populism, technological sovereignty, and democratic resilience.

⚠️ The Far Right–Techno-Oligarch Alliance: Benifei warns that the extreme right has forged “a form of alliance and mutual support” with powerful technology elites, creating “an alliance of interests that is threatening our democracies.”

🤖 AI Governance and European Sovereignty: Europe must develop its own technological capabilities while defending its regulatory independence. As Benifei insists, “regulations are decided in Europe, by Europeans, for Europeans.”

🗳️ Democracy and a New Social Contract: Beyond digital regulation, Benifei calls for “a democratic reaction” and “the proposal of a new social contract” to make European societies “more equal and freer.”

🌐 The conversation also explores the Brussels effect, open-source AI, algorithmic amplification, disinformation, digital enforcement, and EU–US relations.

❓ Who will shape Europe’s digital future: democratically accountable institutions or concentrated private technological power?

▶️ Watch the video interview and hear MEP Benifei’s analysis: 🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gebswQK3kls

📖 Read the interview: 🔗 https://www.populismstudies.org/mep-benifei-an-alliance-of-interests-between-the-extreme-right-and-techno-oligarchs-threatens-our-democracies/

14/10/2026

📢 ECPS Interview

🔴 Prof. Reed: The Structural Contradictions That Gave Rise to Trumpism Remain Unresolved 🇺🇸

✍️ Interview by Selcuk Gultasli

⁉️ As the United States approaches the November 3, 2026, midterm elections, what explains the persistence of Trumpism? Can authoritarian nationalism be understood independently of neoliberal capitalism, class inequality, and the erosion of working-class political organization?

🌍 In a wide-ranging interview with the European Center for Populism Studies (ECPS), Professor Adolph Reed Jr., Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania, offers a historically grounded critique of Trumpism, authoritarianism, racial politics, and the structural contradictions of capitalist democracy.

💬 “The structural contradictions aren’t going anywhere,” Professor Reed warns, arguing that the tensions between capitalist accumulation and political legitimation will continue to generate opportunities for authoritarian political formations unless their underlying causes are addressed.

🔎 Challenging race-reductionist explanations of political behavior and inequality, he examines how neoliberalism has marginalized class-based politics and obscured the material foundations of social divisions.

⚖️ Reflecting on his involvement in both Bernie Sanders presidential campaigns, Professor Reed emphasizes the limits of electoral politics without sustained working-class organization: 💬 “You can’t elect your way to social transformation, at least not without an organizational base.”

📚 The interview explores the relationship between Trumpism, fascism, populism, neoliberalism, racial ideology, democratic socialism, and working-class solidarity, offering important insights into the prospects for rebuilding an organized left.

📕 Read the interview: 🔗 https://www.populismstudies.org/prof-reed-the-structural-contradictions-that-gave-rise-to-trumpism-remain-unresolved/

14/10/2026

📹 ECPS Interview / VIDEO

🇧🇷 Prof. Sátyro: Bolsonarismo Has Already Become Bigger Than Bolsonaro Himself

🎙️ Interview by Selcuk Gultasli

🗳️ As Brazil heads toward the second round of its 2026 presidential election, Professor Natália Sátyro (), Professor of Political Science at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), joins ECPS to discuss Bolsonarismo, democracy, social protection, family politics, gender, religion, class, race, and Brazil’s political future.

📌 Sátyro’s central argument is that “Bolsonarismo has already become bigger than Bolsonaro himself.” She describes it as a durable movement with “neoconservative characteristics” and “a powerful neoliberal appeal,”extending beyond Jair Bolsonaro’s personal leadership and becoming deeply embedded in Brazil’s political and cultural landscape.

🏛️ The conversation examines the broader struggle over democracy and citizenship. Sátyro argues that “what is at stake today is democracy versus something non-democratic,” while highlighting the importance of family-centered cultural politics and evangelical mobilization around gender, sexuality, education, and moral order.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Drawing on her research on welfare regimes and family policy, Sátyro characterizes the Bolsonaro project as “familialism by default.” In this model, she argues, “the family and the market should be the pillars of social protection in Brazil,” reinforcing gendered caregiving roles and widening inequalities in access to care.

⚖️ The interview also explores minority and LGBTQI+ rights, state capacity, federalism, social assistance, political abstention, and the electoral significance of young people, women, and older voters.

⚡ Ultimately, Sátyro sees Brazil confronting two competing political projects: “one very conservative and neoliberal, and the other more progressive and focused on social justice.”

🎥 Watch the full interview: 🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16Zb8iojdv4

📕 Read the interview: https://www.populismstudies.org/prof-satyro-bolsonarismo-has-already-become-bigger-than-bolsonaro-himself/

14/10/2026

📢 ECPS Interview

🇪🇺 MEP Gedin: The EU Is Losing Its Voice When It Comes to Upholding International Law

✍️ Interview by Selcuk Gultasli

📌 In a wide-ranging interview with the European Center for Populism Studies (ECPS), Hanna Gedin (), Member of the European Parliament for Sweden’s Vänsterpartiet (Left Party, V) and Vice-Chair of The Left Group, discusses the normalization of radical-right ideas, migration politics, democratic legitimacy, inequality, and the European Union’s increasingly contested role as a defender of human rights and international law.

⚖️ Gedin warns that “the EU is losing its voice when it comes to upholding international law” and speaks of “a complete erosion of international law” driven, in her view, by political double standards. She contrasts Europe’s response to Russia’s war against Ukraine with its approach toward Israel and argues that the EU must “show some backbone.”

🚨 On migration, Gedin describes “a shift and an adaptation to the radical right” at EU level, recalling MEPs cheering “Send them back, send them back” during a vote on return hubs. At the same time, she argues that Sweden’s debate over teenage deportations demonstrates how attitudes can change when migration acquires human “names and faces.”

🗳️ Turning to the democratic left, Gedin underlines that the answer to the far right is not imitation: “For the left, it’s really important not to adapt.” Instead, she argues, “You need to have your own agenda”—one focused on inequality, housing, energy prices, and the cost of living.

💶 Her broader message is distinctly material: politics must address people’s everyday economic insecurity and “make life a good life without adapting to the far right and their narrative.”

📕 Read the interview: 🔗 https://www.populismstudies.org/mep-gedin-the-eu-is-losing-its-voice-when-it-comes-to-upholding-international-law/

14/10/2026

📢 ECPS Interview

🇪🇺 MEP Benifei: An Alliance of Interests Between the Extreme Right and Techno-Oligarchs Threatens Our Democracies

✍️ Interview by Selcuk Gultasli

📌 In a wide-ranging ECPS interview, MEP Brando Benifei, Chair of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with the United States and a central parliamentary figure in the development of the EU AI Act, reflects on the intersection of technological sovereignty, Big Tech power, disinformation, transatlantic relations, and democratic resilience.

⚠️ Benifei warns that the extreme right has moved increasingly closer to “techno-oligarchs,” forging what he describes as “a form of alliance and mutual support.” He argues that this has produced “an alliance of interests that is threatening our democracies.”

🗳️ His response goes beyond regulation. Benifei calls for “a democratic reaction” and “the proposal of a new social contract” capable of making societies “more equal and freer.”

🤖 On AI and digital sovereignty, he argues that Europe cannot remain a regulatory reference without developing its own technological power and stresses that “regulations are decided in Europe, by Europeans, for Europeans.”

🌐 The conversation also addresses the Brussels effect, open-source AI, algorithmic amplification, digital enforcement, disinformation, and EU-US relations, asking a broader question: who should ultimately govern Europe’s digital future—democratic institutions or concentrated private technological power?

📕 Read the interview: 🔗 https://www.populismstudies.org/mep-benifei-an-alliance-of-interests-between-the-extreme-right-and-techno-oligarchs-threatens-our-democracies/

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