Democracy Erodes from the Top: Leaders, Citizens, and the Challenge of Populism in Europe

Larry Bartels
Professor of Political Science
Co-Director, Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions
May Werthan Shayne Chair of Public Policy and Social Science
Vanderbilt University

A seeming explosion of support for right-wing populist parties has triggered fears for the future of democracy in Europe. Bartels argues that the “populist wave” is much overblown, and that the most important threats to democracy come from political leaders, not from voters.

Presented by Kellogg's Democratization Research Cluster with co-sponsorship by the Nanovic Institute for European Studies.

Larry M. Bartels holds the May Werthan Shayne Chair of Public Policy and Social Science at Vanderbilt University. His scholarship and teaching focus on public opinion, electoral politics, public policy, and political representation. His latest book is Democracy Erodes from the Top: Leaders, Citizens, and the Challenge of Populism in Europe (Princeton University Press, 2023). He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the American Academy of Political and Social Science and a member of the National Academy of Sciences and of the American Philosophical Society. He holds a PhD in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.