1896 Judge cartoon shows William Jennings Bryan/Populism as a snake swallowing up the mule representing the Democratic party. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons. During September and October I attended several conferences across Europe held in the midst of appalling success by far-right parties in national elections. The most shocking of these came in Germany with the neo-fascist Alternative for Germany winning almost 13% of votes and capturing 92 seats in the Bundestag.
Only slightly less disturbing, because they have held parliamentary seats for decades, were gains by the Austrian Freedom Party and the near wipeout of the country’s centre-left and left parties. Just a week later, the hard right and far right swept the election in the Czech Republic.
The mainstream media describes these right-wing parties and the social movements they represent as “populist”, a term also used by left commentators. When the right-wing Wall Street Journal, the stolidly respectable Financial Times, centrist-left Guardian, and some members of the Party of the European Left all refer to “populist” parties the question of definition looms large.
