Center for European Studies

CES Lunchtime Symposium Speaker Series

Michael Webb, Ph.D. Candidate, Political Science

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Economic change is a constant in the twenty-first century, but the implications of this change are anything but constant at the subnational level. Some spaces have experienced tremendous growth, while others have seen their economic prospects wither. What are the implications of this regional divergence for politics? Scholarly research suggests that broad patterns of structural, economic change at the subnational level are connected to the success of populist candidates. Yet there is still a great deal of disagreement in the literature regarding the definition of populism, and the role that the economy plays in driving support for it. My research focuses on clarifying the connection between populist success and the economy. I draw on the work of Ernesto Laclau to develop a definition of populism, which leaves space for structure and offers some explanation for the conceptual ambiguity that exists in the literature. This definition places a renewed emphasis on understanding the nature of contemporary structural change. Empirically, I focus on further exploring the connection between variation in economic structure and the success of populist candidates. In this talk, I present the results of an analysis that explores how the European Union’s efforts to combat regional inequity have affected support for populist candidates.