On Sunday Russians will be going to the poll in order to vote for their next President.  From first glance it may appear that Russia is a democratic state but the issue is that these elections are largely a formality.  President Vladimir Putin is currently polling at 69% popularity with no other candidate breaking 10% […]

Now that we are approaching the end of the blog posts, who else can we discuss but Donald Trump, populism’s poster child.  This post will be discussing the implications that authoritarian and populist rule can have on the world.  In response to the alleged usage of chemical weapons in Syria, Donald Trump in a coalition […]

Historically, Jewish people have found themselves frequently discriminated against as well as persecuted for their beliefs.  Jewish people have been used as a scapegoat, most notably by Nazi Germany but countless other regimes as well. Throughout or discussions of populism and its role in the 21st century, it is important to examine the original ‘other’ […]

Recently, the FBI raided the hotel office and office of Michael Cohen, one of Donald Trump’s personal attorneys.  The context for this was unclear but many believe that this was in relation to the investigation on Russian collusion as well as the recent payment of $130 000 to the pornographic actress Stormy Daniels.  Trump proceeded […]

Last Week former South Korean President Park Geun Hye was sentenced to 24 years in prison.  An article in the New York Times discussed how Park would frequently solicit various businesses within South Korea for donations in exchange for tax breaks.  She was impeached last year and convicted last week. This marked an important victory […]

When discussing Donald Trump and his rise in American politics, often there is a reference back to Ronald Reagan, an earlier Republican candidate that was portrayed in many of the same lights as Trump.  He was seen as a populist that was opposed to the elitism within Washington. Johan Goldberg discussed how Trump’s populism differed […]

Earlier this year, the Washington Post released an article that discussed the fact that populist rhetoric may indeed be correct in terms of the fact that democracy has become increasingly less open to those that are least privileged in society. The article discussed how the rich have a much larger voice in society and economic […]

The Italian election this month marked an interesting development in the saga of the rise of populism.  In Italy, two populist parties, the League and the Five Star movement together accrued roughly 50% of the vote.  These two parties were both classified as appealing to populist rhetorics but a series of Economics professors in Italy […]

With the recent election of Doug Ford as the leader of the PC party of Ontario, many are questioning if this means that populism has come to Canada and what this may mean for Canada.  An article in Macleans from Mark Milke discusses why we may not have caught this earlier. His reasoning lies in […]

What is a presidential candidate to do when faced with a situation where their opponent campaigns not on their policies, but instead on their personality.  This is the situation both democrats and republicans found themselves in when facing Donald Trump. One article discusses how Donald Trump, as well as Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders, were […]