Media and Populism

In the last decade, we have witnessed the emergence of populist governments, in several countries around the world, which challenge the rules of liberal democracy, especially regarding individual freedoms, freedom of speech and of the press.

These are populist governments of an authoritarian nature, which have been installed, often after free elections, followed by attempted constitutional changes aimed at perpetuating leaders in power and conditioning rights in the field of individual liberties and human rights. Contemporary populisms, or neo-populisms, adopt an attitude of contestation to democratic values – such as the rule of law, pluralism, freedom of expression and communication, and human rights – and to their mediating and regulating institutions.

In this group of populist agents are the modern authoritarian populisms, embodied by leaders who are, or have been, in power, such as Donald Trump (United States), Jair Bolsonaro (Brazil), Recep Erdogan (Turkey), Viktor Orbán (Hungary), Rodrigo Duterte(Philippines), Matteo Salvini (Italy), as well as others in the consolidation phase, such as Marine Le Pen (France), André Ventura (Portugal) or Santiago Abascal (Spain).

This line of research integrates all the works and projects that develop, in a central way, this thematic, relating populism with the role of the media, of the information and communication technologies and of the social networks.