Welcome to the Populism Specialist Group

The Populism Specialist Group is one of the largest groups within the Political Studies Association.

Our Goal

The group's goal is to promote the study of populist discourses, movements and parties at a local, national and international level. It aims at encouraging a rigorous theoretical and conceptual grounding of populism research as well as the strengthening of its analytical scope through comparative, quantitative and qualitative methods.

The group purports to facilitate a critical dialogue about contemporary democratic politics, and populism’s complex role within that. It particularly invites the participation and contribution of international scholars from countries and regions where populism has marked political culture, shaping political frontiers and stimulating antithetical discursive articulations.

CALL FOR PAPERS

75th PSA Annual Conference

14 - 16 April 2025

University of Birmingham
and Aston University

Birmingham (on-site event)

Read our CfPs here

LATEST EVENT

8th Annual Populism Specialist Group Workshop

Populism, Anti-Populism, Polarisation

19-20 September 2024

Democracy Institute, CEU

Budapest (on-site event)

Keynote Speakers: 

Oliver Marchart (Vienna) 

Emilia  Palonen (Helsinki)

To read the CfP and find out more, please click here

OUR ACTIVITIES

The group holds a number of academic activities throughout the year, including an annual workshop and participation at the PSA annual conference. Furthermore, we are now launching our podcast, Populism. Explore our website to find out more.