Wednesday, February 16, 2022
10:00 - 11:00 AM (EST)
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This event is on the record and open to the public. |
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The relationship between populism and democracy is contested among scholars. While some propose that populism is inherently harmful for democracy because it is anti-pluralist and confrontational, others argue that populism can reinvigorate worn-out democracies in need of greater popular participation. In A Dynamic Theory of Populism in Power, Julio F. Carrión advances this debate by examining the empirical relationship between populism in power and democracy. Does populism in power always lead to regime change, that is, the demise of democracy? The answer is no. The impact of populism on democracy depends on the variety of populism in power: the worst outcomes in democratic governance are found under unconstrained populism. Carrión presents the permissive and productive conditions for why and how populism becomes unconstrained, as well as a dynamic theory of change that shows how the late victories of populists build on early ones, resulting in greater power asymmetries.
A Dynamic Theory of Populism in Power provides an analysis of five Latin American populist presidencies, all located in the Andes. In four of them (Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela), populism became unconstrained and regime change followed. In one case, Colombia, populism in power was successfully contained and democracy survived. The concluding chapter places the Andean cases in comparative perspective and discusses how unconstrained populism in other cases (Nicaragua and Hungary) also led to the end of electoral democracy. Where populism in power was constrained (Honduras and the United States), regime change did not materialize. Carrión advances a theory of populism in power that helps us understand how democracies transition into non-democracies. To that extent, the book illuminates the process of democratic erosion in our time.
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Julio F. Carrión is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Delaware, where he also was the Founding Director of its Center for Global and Area Studies. He edited The Fujimori Legacy: The Rise of Electoral Authoritarianism in Peru and has published numerous articles in both English and Spanish. His analysis of Peruvian politics has been featured in the Latin America Advisor, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal, and other media outlets.
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Cynthia McClintock is Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University. She holds the B.A. degree from Harvard University and the Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dr. McClintock was President of the Latin American Studies Association in 1994-95. Also, she was a member of the Council of the American Political Science Association in 1998-2000, and served as the Chair of its Comparative Democratization Section in 2003-05.
During 2006-2007, Prof. McClintock was a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Based on her research at the Center, she wrote Electoral Rules and Democracy in Latin America, from Oxford University Press, 2018.
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Marlene Laruelle, Ph.D., is Director of the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies; Director of the Central Asia Program; Director of the Illiberalism Studies Program; Co-Director of PONARS Eurasia; and Research Professor of International Affairs at The George Washington University. She works on political, social, and cultural changes in the post-Soviet space. Marlene's research explores the transformations of nationalist and conservative ideologies in Russia, nationhood construction in Central Asia, as well as the development of Russia's Arctic regions.
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Illiberalism Studies Program
Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES)
Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University
1957 E Street, NW | Suite 412 | Washington, DC | 20052
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