Title: The political economy of populism: an agenda-theoretic approach with special reference to Germany

Authors: Arne Heise

Addresses: Department of Socioeconomics, Hamburg University, VMP 9, 20146 Hamburg, Germany

Abstract: Populism in modern Western democracies is on the rise. The existing literature concentrates on explanations based on the growing socio-economic and socio-cultural polarisation of modern societies driven by globalisation and individualisation on the one hand and the un-responsiveness of unrepresentative governments and non-majoritarian bodies on the other hand. Although such explanations certainly contribute partly to our understanding of the phenomenon called 'populism' - particularly the (right or left-wing) extremist dimension of it, it does not sufficiently explain the seemingly non-ideological 'populism of the middle class' which, at least in Germany, accounts for the bigger, yet less visible part of populism. The objective of the paper is to focus on systematic weaknesses of collective decision-making in liberal-representative democracies in explaining populism (particularly of the middle class) as a growing critique of the institutions of liberal democracy.

Keywords: populism; liberal democracy; political economy; minority rule; elites; Germany.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPP.2024.138374

International Journal of Public Policy, 2024 Vol.17 No.3, pp.166 - 190

Received: 17 Apr 2023
Accepted: 03 Oct 2023
Published online: 01 May 2024 *

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