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AbstractStarting from the debate on democratic decline, this article introduces the concept of 'mainstreaming authoritarianism' in a bid to turn attention to the role and agency of traditional political actors in the process. The article summarises key findings of relevant studies on autocratisation and highlights issues with the many concepts employed to describe the problem. It moves on to define authoritarianism and suggests a turn towards practice‐based approaches. This facilitates the analysis of authoritarian discourses and practices of mainstream political actors in established democracies and helps bridge the gap between social psychology‐based and political science‐based classic conceptualisations of authoritarianism. Testing the hypothesis that authoritarianism has been mainstreamed, the author develops a comparative survey of the actions and practices of key political actors in Europe, concluding with a note on the importance of acknowledging this authoritarian turn, dealing with its consequences and focussing on the role of agency.

AbstractPopulism has often been described as a great challenge and threat to Western democracies. Not surprisingly, at a time in which we are witnessing a significant rise in populist actors in Europe and the US, scientific analyses and commentary regarding populism have become particularly popular and, indeed, necessary. My aim in this article is to offer a brief yet comprehensive overview of the ongoing debates in a bid to problematise the supposed 'imminent threat' of populism in light of recent developments within the political systems and societies of established democracies, especially under conditions of crisis. I understand populism as a specific type of discourse, and thus as a way—among others—of doing politics and appealing to groups of people. Thus, I highlight the varying orientations that populist movements might take, depending on the ideological traditions with which they are closely articulated and the sociopolitical environment in which they manifest. Last, I relate the 'populist surge' to discussions regarding post‐democracy.

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: KATSAMBEKIS, G., 2016. The populist surge in post-democratic times: Theoretical and political challenges. The Political Quarterly, 88 (2), pp. 202-210, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12317. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving. ; Populism has often been described as a great challenge and threat to Western democracies. Not surprisingly, at a time in which we are witnessing a significant rise in populist actors in Europe and the US, scientific analyses and commentary regarding populism have become particularly popular and, indeed, necessary. My aim in this article is to offer a brief yet comprehensive overview of the ongoing debates in a bid to problematise the supposed 'imminent threat' of populism in light of recent developments within the political systems and societies of established democracies, especially under conditions of crisis. I understand populism as a specific type of discourse, and thus as a way—among others—of doing politics and appealing to groups of people. Thus, I highlight the varying orientations that populist movements might take, depending on the ideological traditions with which they are closely articulated and the sociopolitical environment in which they manifest. Last, I relate the 'populist surge' to discussions regarding post-democracy.

This paper is closed access until 2nd August 2018. ; The recent rise to power of the Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza) in Greece has confronted political scientists with an empirical terra incognita and a broader theoretico-political puzzle. On the one hand, research on the European radical Left is relatively underdeveloped; on the other hand, Syriza's left-wing egalitarian and inclusionary populism challenges the definitions and analytical tools of various models regarding the populist phenomenon. This article aims at an in-depth exploration of Syriza's discourse, covering the period from its emergence as a loose coalition of parties and groups in 2004 up to the campaign that led to its accession to power in 2015. The contribution of this study to the relevant literature is twofold. First, it offers an original and extensive survey of the discourse of this coalition/party while in opposition, and also critically assesses it interms of its populist character and particular contents. Second, it builds on the peculiarities of Syriza's populism to highlight specific shortcomings in mainstream approaches to populism, while it advocates a minimal discursive definition of populism based on the theoretical contribution of Ernesto Laclau and the so-called "Essex School."