Teams

Textual Analysis

Surveys

Expert Surveys

Elite Surveys

Causes

Psychological Consequences

Domestic Consequences

International Relations

Mitigation

Outreach

OPUS Initiative

Surveys

Team Surveys focuses on the study of populism through the use of public opinion surveys. We are interested in measuring populist attitudes at the mass level, as well as in trying to understand social and psychological factors that may be associated with susceptibility to and support for this kind of political discourse. We work with a variety of measurement methods and apply them in multiple regional studies. We look for scales that are conceptually rigorous and can be used reliably in different countries, and try to identify what are the correlates of populist attitude at the mass level in various regions. The final purpose is to better understand the demand-side of populist politics, and its contextual variations.

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Expert Surveys

Team Expert surveys aims at constructing a comparative database covering parties and party systems in Europe and in Latin America. We understand populism as a separate dimension of party competition among political actors that may or may not become activated. Capturing degrees of populism along this continuum will allow us to explore how populism relates to other policy dimensions, such as for example the general left-right positioning. The resulting data can be used to explore individual level questions by linking survey data to party positions, but also questions at the aggregate level.

Elite Surveys

Team Parliamentary elite surveys sets out to measure political attitudes in parliamentary elites in different regional contexts. We conceptualize political attitudes as three categories: populist, pluralist and elitist. To measure these attitudes we draw on tools used to study these phenomena at the individual level (e.g. public opinion surveys) and adjust them to the specific context of parliamentary elites. In the first project phase (late 2014 and first half of 2015) we conduct pilot surveys in several Latin American countries (in collaboration with the University of Salamanca and the Parliamentary Elite Survey PELA), a candidate survey in Greece and a parliamentary elite survey in Croatia.

Causes

The causes team focuses on the underlying origins of populism with the intention to shed light on the reasons why we observe patterns of (electoral) success and failure of populist forces and influence across different country and at different times. This team is particularly interested in single and comparative case studies that seek to theoretically explore and empirically test potential sources of populism. These roots may range from individual and psychological constructs to more societal and macro-political factors. Altogether, the team seeks to develop a broader theoretical and empirical framework to better understand the causes of populism. In doing so, it relies on a wide variety of methodological approaches and does not restrict itself to a particular country-setting.

Psychological Consequences

The "consequences" team focuses on the effects of populism, while simultaneously paying specific attention to its multifaceted relationship with (liberal) democracy. It seeks to understand how populism affects politics. The Team's focus ranges from psychological and individual-level to more societal and aggregate-level consequences of populism. It relies on a wide variety of methodological approaches and does not restrict itself to a particular country-setting.

Domestic Consequences

The "domestic consequences" team focuses on institutional as well as policy consequences of populism. It seeks to understand how populism affects politics and policies, while simultaneously paying specific attention to the multifaceted relationship between populism and (liberal) democracy. On the on hand, the Team puts a specific emphasis on institutional change, from institutional engineering to the erosion of informal political standards and norms, on the other hand, it investigates matters of political economy, from standard macroeconomic outcomes to human development to corruption. The Team's focus ranges from individual-level to more meso- and aggregate-level consequences of populism. It relies on a wide variety of methodological approaches and does not restrict itself to a particular country-setting.

International Relations

The International Relations Team is interested in the ways that populism influences and interacts with international developments. This includes, but is not limited to, the influence of populism on the foreign policy of states, how international shifts condition the emergence and content of populism across the world, and transnational dimensions of populist phenomena. Methodologically the team endorses a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods.

Mitigation

Outreach

The Outreach team encourages scholars to consider policy implications and recommendations from their research and to disseminate research findings in accessible (no-jargon) language to policymakers, media and the public in the form of briefs, analysis columns and blogs. In addition, we encourage partnerships with governments, civil society and journalism to promote evidence-based policy-making and research dissemination.

OPUS | Young Scholars Initiative on Populism

Who we are
OPUS | Young Scholars Initiative on Populism is a division within Team Populism. It is an international research network inaugurated in May 2021 to foster the professional development of and facilitate collaboration between young and emerging scholars on populism. The Initiative provides graduate students and early-career researchers across institutions, regions and academic disciplines with the opportunity to expand their knowledge and skills on various aspects of populism as well as a productive space for academic exchange, dissemination of research and networking.

Our aims
OPUS aims to establish and promote connections primarily among young scholars but also between young scholars and senior researchers, especially Team Populism members from all over the globe, by organizing academic seminars, training activities, graduate conferences, and informal gatherings. Going further, it aspires to support graduate students worldwide who strive at cross-national, comparative research on populism with limited resources or less than ideal supervision or peer-to-peer mentoring in their effort to create a network, establish long-term collaboration, present their work and receive prompt and detailed feedback through these organizations.

Organization and oversight
The Initiative is a platform for young scholars by young scholars. While the senior Team Populism leadership serves as an advisory board, all decisions regarding OPUS are taken by the Steering Committee, which is composed of independent young scholars from diverse backgrounds who are responsible for the strategic priorities of the Initiative and the planning and execution of activities. The present Committee members are listed (in alphabetical order) below.

Teams

Textual Analysis

Team Leads

Announcements

Surveys

Team Leads

Announcements

Expert Surveys

Team Leads

Announcements

Elite Surveys

Team Leads

Announcements

Causes

Team Leads

Announcements

Psychological Consequences

Team Leads

Announcements

Domestic Consequences

Team Leads

Announcements

International Relations

Team Leads

Announcements

Mitigation

Team Leads

Announcements

Outreach

Team Leads

Announcements

OPUS | Young Scholars Initiative on Populism

Steering Committee

Announcements