Populism and Extremism: The Immediate Political Challenges to Europeanism

A Political Theory of Populism

When voters fear that politicians may have a right-wing bias or that they may be in‡uenced or corrupted by the rich elite, signals of true left-wing conviction are valuable. As a consequence, even a moderate politician seeking reelection chooses ‘populist’policies— i.e., policies to the left of the median voter— as a way of signaling that he is not from the right. Truly right-wing politicians r...

Endogenous institutions and political extremism

The election of extreme political leaders is often associated with changes in political institutions. This paper studies these phenomena through a model in which the median voter elects a leader anticipating that he will impose institutional constraints— such as constitutional amendments, judicial appointments, or the implicit threat of a coup— that in‡uence the behavior of future political cha...

Vicious Cycles: Endogenous Political Extremism and Political Violence

Why do terrorists terrorize? In this paper, we advance an explanation for terrorist (and anti-terrorist) behavior in societies with deep cleavages that might promote terrorism—for example, in Northern Ireland, Israel, Sri Lanka, the Middle East, and the Balkans. In particular we develop a model of strategic interaction between groups in society as a way of examining the political conditions und...

Risk Assessment Decisions for Violent Political Extremism

Nber Working Paper Series a Political Theory of Populism

When voters fear that politicians may have a right-wing bias or that they may be influenced or corrupted by the rich elite, signals of true left-wing conviction are valuable. As a consequence, even a moderate politician seeking reelection chooses “populist’ policies i.e., policies to the left of the median voter as a way of signaling that he is not from the right. Truly right-wing politicians r...