Article in Journal

Causes and Consequences of Spreading Populism: How to Deal with This Challenge

Sergei Guriev
CESifo, Munich, 2024

EconPol Forum 25 (2), 05-08
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  • We live in the era of the unprecedented rise of populism – measured either by voting share for populist (i.e., antielite and anti-pluralist) politicians or by the presence of populists in governments
  • There is convincing evidence that the rise of populism has been caused by secular trends (globalization, automation, and the rise of social media) as well as one-off events (such as the 2008–2009 global financial crisis and subsequent austerity and the 2015–2016 refugee crisis). It is also plausible that the rise of populism is a response to cultural wars
  • There is also evidence that shows that populists in power slow down economic growth and undermine democratic political institutions
  • There is limited research on solutions to the problem of the rise of populism. The suggested solutions include redistribution, regulating social media, deliberative democracy, and ranked-choice voting

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