Authoritarian Populism, Democracy and Counter-Revolution Accepted Version.pdf (382.67 kB)
Authoritarian populism, democracy and the long counter-revolution of the radical right
Jan-Werner Müller’s analysis of ‘authoritarian populism’ represents a highly limited approach to the issue that is typical of many mainstream approaches within populism studies and liberal-democratic constitutional theory. Through a critique of Müller, the article develops an account of the historical emergence of authoritarian populism as a ‘long counter-revolution of the radical right’ against the values and institutions of the social-democratic welfare state. Focussing on the USA and UK, the article shows how, rather than being a novel phenomenon emerging from the fringes in the 1980s and 1990s, authoritarian populism emerges from the middle of the twentieth century as a highly successful form of hegemonic struggle over the Republican and Conservative parties and over American and British societies. The political success of a highly contradictory ideological framework of the radical right has helped to largely normalise a language, rhetoric and imaginary of authoritarian populism and place it at the centre of contemporary politics and culture. By largely ignoring such a development, and the highly contingent nature of North Atlantic ‘democracy’, theorists and commentators like Müller fail to grasp the depth of the current authoritarian populist threat and offer only liberal-democratic mythology in response to the ranting and chanting of ‘fake news’.
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Publication status
- Published
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- Accepted version
Journal
Contemporary Political TheoryISSN
1470-8914Publisher
Palgrave MacmillanExternal DOI
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- Law Publications
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- No
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- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2023-01-12First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2023-01-11Usage metrics
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