National Populisms
Location
PANEL: Sociology Honors Pt. II
Wilder 101
Moderator: Greggor Mattson
Document Type
Presentation - Open Access
Start Date
5-1-2026 4:30 PM
End Date
5-1-2026 5:30 PM
Abstract
National populist political parties have grown in influence in the past 20 years across nations with disparate cultures, histories and economies. Theories explaining this change include economic depression, globalization, and new societal cleavages relating to EU integration and immigration. To examine these theories and how they apply to vastly different nations, I compare the parties Sverigedemokraterna in Sweden and Fidesz in Hungary. I find: 1) A legacy of liberal democracy aids in integrating national populist parties into the political mainstream, while a weak democratic legacy enables national populists to subvert democratic mechanisms and capture the nation. 2) The decline of class voting that began in the 1980s and accelerated after the 2008 financial crisis undercut traditional voting patterns and aided the politicization of immigration, in line with predictions made by supporters of the theorized transnational cleavage
Keywords:
Populism, Nationalism, Sweden, Hungary
Recommended Citation
Purcell, James, "National Populisms" (2026). Research Symposium. 35.
https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/researchsymp/2026/presentations/35
Major
Sociology; Psychology
Project Mentor(s)
Veljko Vujačić, Sociology
Greggor Mattson, Sociology
2026
National Populisms
PANEL: Sociology Honors Pt. II
Wilder 101
Moderator: Greggor Mattson
National populist political parties have grown in influence in the past 20 years across nations with disparate cultures, histories and economies. Theories explaining this change include economic depression, globalization, and new societal cleavages relating to EU integration and immigration. To examine these theories and how they apply to vastly different nations, I compare the parties Sverigedemokraterna in Sweden and Fidesz in Hungary. I find: 1) A legacy of liberal democracy aids in integrating national populist parties into the political mainstream, while a weak democratic legacy enables national populists to subvert democratic mechanisms and capture the nation. 2) The decline of class voting that began in the 1980s and accelerated after the 2008 financial crisis undercut traditional voting patterns and aided the politicization of immigration, in line with predictions made by supporters of the theorized transnational cleavage
