@populismblog
Interviews and articles about populism, nationalism, memory, the far right... Blog: POP 🔥 populismobserver.com Book: The Populism Interviews 📕 https://www.routledge.com/The-Populism-Interviews-A-Dialogue-with-Leading-Experts/Manucci/p/book/9781032162669
Great points! Legacy media still matter, a lot. More so for older people? Probably. Social media matter? Sure, but within the media ecosystem as a whole, nor separately, as you correctly point out. Finally: use of different social media does not seem correlate with voting in any generalizable way.
Excellent critique of the media’s normalization of the far right.
This research could be of interest to
@leoniedejonge.bsky.social
@dominiquewirz.bsky.social
@aurelmondon.com
@alessandronai.bsky.social
@caterinafr.bsky.social
@claesdevreese.bsky.social
@sldelange.bsky.social
@grahammacklin.bsky.social
@valentimvicente.bsky.social
@mrooduijn.bsky.social
Thanks to all co-authors, friends, coders, and colleagues who helped me through POLAR, a research project I started in 2023.
A few, final publications will come out in the next months, so stay tuned 📡
Here you can find some info about the project
populismobserver.com/polar/
Four-panel figure showing the share of nostalgic references in newspaper coverage of far-right actors in Portugal (top row) and Spain (bottom row), 2012–2022. The left panels display yearly trends by newspaper; the right panels show overall averages by outlet. Portugal (top left): Nostalgia references are very low before 2016. From 2017 onward, all newspapers show increases. Diário de Notícias peaks sharply around 2015 (over 12%) and again around 2019 (around 6%). Público shows a noticeable rise in 2017–2019 (peaking above 8%), while Correio da Manhã increases gradually after 2018, remaining lower overall. Portugal (top right): Overall averages indicate Diário de Notícias (~3.3%) and Público (~3.1%) have higher nostalgia shares than Correio da Manhã (~1.6%). Spain (bottom left): Nostalgia is more pronounced and volatile. ABC shows a dramatic spike in 2013 (above 30%) and sustained high levels through 2015. El País and El Mundo also show increases between 2013 and 2016, followed by stabilization at lower levels after 2018. Spain (bottom right): Overall nostalgia averages are higher than in Portugal: El Mundo (~5.2%) and El País (~5.0%) slightly exceed ABC (~4.5%). Consistent with the article’s argument about the “promise of a better past,” the figure shows that nostalgic framing is not marginal. It becomes more visible in key moments preceding and following the electoral breakthroughs of far-right actors in 2019, suggesting that media discourse contributed to normalizing appeals to authoritarian or idealized national pasts rather than uniformly rejecting them.
Key mechanism: media narratives shape how history and authority are invoked — creating a “promise of a better past” that aligns with far-right identity politics.
In other words: the way media talk about ideas matters as much as how often they do.
A second study, shows that media narratives can help normalize the far right.
How?
• Frame far-right actors through accommodation
• Tap into authoritarian nostalgia
• Reduce perceived threat by treating extreme ideas as legit political options
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
How does normalisation happen?
• VOX & Chega were treated more favourably than older far-right parties (e.g. España 2000, Ergue-te)
• Tabloids used more accommodation, less demonisation
• “Right-wing”, “conservative”, “populist” labels softened perceptions
• Even “neutral” coverage can legitimise.
How did Vox and Chega break through in 2019?
We analysed ~3,000 newspaper articles (2012–2022).
Right before entering parliament, both received unprecedented media visibility.
Tabloids were the least hostile, most accommodating.
Visibility mattered. 👇
www.routledge.com/The-Far-Righ...
A family with 3-d glasses shocked by what they see on their mobile devices screens
The far right in Spain and Portugal didn’t go mainstream alone.
The Iberian media system played a key role in their normalization 📺📻📰
2 new publications out now🔥
This marks the closing chapter of my project POLAR, a research journey that began in 2021.
A 🧵on how Vox and Chega became mainstream 👇
Another excellent post for the illiberalism series! 🌊
Get in contact with me or The Loop if you want to contribute 📢
🌊 #IlliberalWave No.45
🧨 Contemporary #illiberalism rarely arrives through dramatic democratic rupture.
📉 Examining #Greece’s regulation of civil society, Vera Tika shows how democratic erosion can occur incrementally — through law, procedure, and bureaucratic control.
👉 bit.ly/4kTEL11
"What does Matt Goodwin really think? By the time we find out, it may be too late"
Who cares what he "really thinks"?
Can't we focus on what he and Reform propose and normalise which is very clear, even with the euphemisms in the article?
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
Ironic definition of populism from Verbolario, in Spanish: Populism, m. Promesa de un mejor pasado.
It comes from here...it was Hugo Marcos-Marne to bring it to my attention, I immediately decided it had to be the title, although at the time we didn't even had a draft of the article yet.
Worth a read just for the title, but the actual research is an incredible contribution to the literature on Media and Politics.
Would definitely be interested to see if the same patterns exist in Hungary and Romania, given the highly politicised nature of media in each.
Or were you thinking rather in terms of how communist nostalgia translates into left-wing voting? Also totally possible...
Thanks!
Interesting question. I don't know the media landscape of Romania and Hungary well enough, but it's entirely possible that anti-communist historical narratives are reinforced in those who read certain newspapers. Which, in turn, would probably lead to more far-right voting
♀️ Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science everyone! 🌈 Since the backlash is real, I want to thank all the amazing and inspiring (female) colleagues who make #PoliticalScience more diverse, more fun, and more relevant. Happily, the following list can never be complete 👇 #WomenInScience
65.1🦋
What happens when the #RadicalRight looks fondly to the past? 🕰️ 👀
@populismblog.bsky.social & @steven-vanhauwaert.bsky.social introduce #AuthoritarianNostalgia exploring how supporters of VOX and Chega connect today’s politics with Spanish & Portuguese eras
buff.ly/GHwnwul
Do you remember when people were saying "I think my phone is listening to me, i'm getting ads for stuff I spoke about" and people said "They arent listening to you, they're just this good at predicting your interests"?
Well, it happens they were doing exactly that.
www.cbsnews.com/news/google-...
Matt Goodwin and the end of England: How one man's career explains our public life iandunt.substack.com/p/matt-goodw...
We tested whether European populist parties in parliament can constitute a corrective to this situation thanks to what we have defined as Robin Hood Effect.
The answer is no.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
If liberal democracy already speaks with an upper-class accent, this string of crises has done nothing but increase the already alarming levels of inequality. Many voters believe that populist parties, with their common-sense and anti-establishment message, can truly represent the vox populi...
Europe has been in a semi-permanent crisis since 2007: the Great Recession evolved into a debt crisis, which was subsequently followed by the so-called ‘migrant crisis’, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Not to mention the elephant in the room: the climate crisis.
📣Online book launch 📣
Join us on Zoom (Feb 10, 7pm GMT / 11am PST) for the launch of The Far Right and the Media: International Trends and Perspectives, exploring how media systems shape the visibility and normalization of far-right ideas in today’s digital world.
reacpol.net/farright-med...
The far right and the media book cover
So pleased to have received my copy of The far right and the media, edited by @imogenrichards.bsky.social!
You can order the book here:
www.routledge.com/The-Far-Righ...
🔥 Populist parties are no Robin Hood...⚡️
Now with page numbers and in #openaccess, part of a terrific special issue for @jeppjournal.bsky.social
With the amazing @eborghetto.bsky.social and Derek Epp
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
🚨 Chuffed to see my new chapter with Jordan McSwiney published
Racism, Amplification and Mainstreaming: News Media and the Australian Far Right
The chapter features in a vital new book ‘The Far Right and the Media’, brilliantly edited by Imogen Richards 🥳
www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edi...
"Bolsonaro ... is unlikely to appreciate the approved reading list. It includes Brazilian works on Indigenous rights, racism, the environment and the violence meted out by the country’s 1964-85 dictatorship – a regime Bolsonaro openly supported."
Brazil, you're doing amazing. This is inspired.
