Cas Mudde
Dutch political scientist and scholar of populism, the radical right, and political extremism; professor of political science (University of Georgia) and author of widely cited works on populism and the far right.
Books
This list of books are ONLY the books that have been ranked on the lists that are aggregated on this site. This is not a comprehensive list of all books by this author.
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1. Populism
This book defines populism as a thin-centered ideology that divides society into a unified 'pure people' and a corrupt 'elite,' analyses how it attaches to other ideologies (left, right, and center), and distinguishes between its democratic and authoritarian forms. It examines the causes and manifestations of contemporary populist movements and parties across countries, the stylistic and organizational traits they share, and the ways populism both channels legitimate grievances and poses risks to liberal democratic norms. The author evaluates empirical evidence about populism’s effects on policy and institutions and discusses normative and practical responses to its rise.
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2. Syriza
The Failure of the Populist Promise
The book traces the rise of the radical-left Greek coalition that surged to power during the eurozone crisis, examining its blend of leftist policy goals and populist rhetoric, internal factionalism, and electoral strategy. It analyzes how governing pressures, institutional constraints, and brutal negotiations with European creditors forced the movement into compromises that undermined its promises and alienated parts of its base. Placing the case in a broader European context, the work draws lessons about the limits of anti-establishment movements and the challenges of transforming electoral success into durable policy change.
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3. The Far Right Today
A concise, evidence-based overview of contemporary far-right movements that explains their core ideology (a mix of nativism, authoritarianism and populism), charts their recent electoral gains and mainstreaming across different countries, examines the social, economic and political drivers that fuel their rise (including immigration, cultural backlash and the role of social media), and assesses the threat they pose to liberal democracy while arguing for measured democratic responses to counter their appeal without amplifying polarization.
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