The Promise and Perils of Populism

This impressive volume raises the standard of the academic debate on populism to a new level. The book highlights the contemporary political and theoretical importance of a term that—while conceptually elusive—it has lost none of its political effectiveness or contemporary relevance.

~Enrique Peruzzotti, coeditor of Critical Theory and Democracy: Civil Society, Dictatorship, and Constitutionalism in Andrew Arato's Democratic Theory

Populism is one of the hottest topics in comparative politics and The Promise and Perils of Populism makes a major theoretical and empirical contribution to its study.

~Francisco Panizza, London School of Economics and Political Science

[...] For students and academics interested in the study of populism from both a theoretical and an empirical perspective, this volume is a valuable resource indeed.

~Latin American Politics & Society

The current book is a major contribution to such excitement and vibrancy [of the study of populism].

~Journal of Latin American Studies

This book can serve as an excellent overview of recent populist theoretical and comparative scholarship since the analysis is comprehensive.

~Commonwealth & Comparative Politics

[T]his volume, the first of its kind really, laid the empirical groundwork for dozens, if not hundreds, of subsequent populism studies.... Its detailed and rich accounts of how political actors around the world construct 'the people' offer timeless analyses and vital starting points for future studies. Its willingness to engage in normative discussions of the (non)democratic nature of contemporary populists serves as an empirical blueprint for both academic scholars and anyone interested in one of the most important political phenomena of the 21st century.

~Populism