1Muhammad Nur Abdul Latif Al Waroi, 2Stanislaus Riyanta, 3Muhammad Reza Rustam
1,2National Resilience Studies, School of Strategic and Global Studies, University of Indonesia
3Japanese Area Studies, School of Strategic and Global Studies, University of Indonesia
DOI : https://doi.org/10.47191/ijmra/v7-i10-18Google Scholar Download Pdf
ABSTRACT:
Populism has emerged as a significant challenge to democratic governance worldwide, as populist leaders seek to undermine checks and balances and consolidate power. This systematic literature review analyzes how populist movements weaken democratic institutions across different regions, focusing on the erosion of judicial independence, legislative oversight, media freedom, and human rights. This study examines case studies from Hungary, Turkey, Brazil, and the United States, revealing how populist leaders centralize authority, manipulate legal frameworks, and exploit societal grievances to sideline democratic norms. Populist rhetoric often frames democratic institutions as elitist and detached from the interests of the "true people," justifying actions that concentrate executive power and limit accountability. This impact extends beyond national borders and affects international law and global governance. In response, civil society, independent judiciaries, the media, academia, and international organizations play crucial roles in defending democratic values and building resilience against populist encroachment. Strategies such as enhancing legal protection, promoting civic education, strengthening oversight bodies, and reforming electoral systems are essential for countering populist threats. This study highlights the need for a multifaceted approach to address the root causes of populism's appeal and protect democratic institutions. Further research should explore how populists exploit digital media and the effectiveness of resistance strategies and conduct comparative analyses across regions to develop robust defenses against the erosion of democracy.
KEYWORDS:Populism, Democratic Erosion, Checks and Balances, Judicial Independence, Media Freedom
REFERENCES1) Abowitz, K. K. (2023). POPULISM, LEGITIMACY, AND STATE-SPONSORED SCHOOLING. Teoria de La Educacion, 35(2), 37–55. https://doi.org/10.14201/teri.31000
2) Adamidis, V. (2021). Populism and the Rule of Recognition Challenging the Foundations of Democratic Legal Systems. Populism, 4(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1163/25888072-BJA10016
3) Adamidis, V. (2024). Democracy, populism, and the rule of law: A reconsideration of their interconnectedness. Politics, 44(3), 386–399. https://doi.org/10.1177/02633957211041444
4) Aitchison, G. (2017). Three Models of Republican Rights: Juridical, Parliamentary and Populist. Political Studies, 65(2), 339–355. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032321716648339
5) Alston, P. (2017). The populist challenge to human rights. Journal of Human Rights Practice, 9(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhuman/hux007
6) Annison, H., & Guiney, T. (2022). Populism, Conservatism and the Politics of Parole in England and Wales. Political Quarterly, 93(3), 416–423. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.13170
7) Arregui Acosta, J. D. (2023). European Union Backsliding in the Rule of Law: The Hungarian Case | La regresión del Estado de derecho en la Unión Europea: el caso húngaro. Foro: Revista de Derecho, 2023(40), 143–159. https://doi.org/10.32719/26312484.2023.40.8
8) Aslanidis, P. (2017). Avoiding Bias in the Study of Populism. Chinese Political Science Review, 2(3), 266–287. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41111-017-0064-0
9) Aslanidis, P., & Rovira Kaltwasser, C. (2016). Dealing with populists in government: the SYRIZA-ANEL coalition in Greece. Democratization, 23(6), 1077–1091. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2016.1154842
10) Bahçeci, B. (2023). Shifting Financial Privileges from Dynasty to Parliament In the Emergence of Modern Turkiye. Annales de La Faculte de Droit d’Istanbul, 73, 157–182. https://doi.org/10.26650/annales.2023.73.0005
11) Bajpai, R., & Kureshi, Y. (2022). Mechanisms of democratic authoritarianism: de-centring the executive in South Asia and beyond. Democratization, 29(8), 1375–1396. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2022.2062324
12) Bickerton, C., & Accetti, C. I. (2017). Populism and technocracy: opposites or complements? Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 20(2), 186–206. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698230.2014.995504
13) Blatter, J., & Schulz, J. (2022). Intergovernmentalism and the crisis of representative democracy: The case for creating a system of horizontally expanded and overlapping national democracies. European Journal of International Relations, 28(3), 722–747. https://doi.org/10.1177/13540661221106909
14) Bolleyer, N., & Salát, O. (2021). Parliaments in times of crisis: COVID-19, populism and executive dominance. West European Politics, 44(5–6), 1103–1128. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2021.1930733
15) Bustikova, L., & Guasti, P. (2017). The illiberal turn or swerve in central Europe? Politics and Governance, 5(4Populisma), 166–176. https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v5i4.1156
16) Campani, G., Fabelo Concepción, S., Rodriguez Soler, A., & Sánchez Savín, C. (2022). The Rise of Donald Trump Right-Wing Populism in the United States: Middle American Radicalism and Anti-Immigration Discourse. Societies, 12(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/soc12060154
17) Campolongo, F., & Scanni, F. M. (2023). Campaigns and regimes: party characteristics, political transformations and the outcomes of populist governments. Comparative European Politics, 21(2), 208–233. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41295-022-00322-4
18) Capelos, T., & Katsanidou, A. (2018). Reactionary Politics: Explaining the Psychological Roots of Anti Preferences in European Integration and Immigration Debates. Political Psychology, 39(6), 1271–1288. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12540
19) Carević, M., & Novokmet, R. R. (2021). CHALLENGES FOR THE CONTEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND THE RULE OF LAW: IS THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY DOING ITS BEST FOR THE PROTECTION OF CLIMATE MIGRANTS? | IZAZOVI ZA POSTOJEĆI MEĐUNARODNI OKVIR I VLADAVINU PRAVA: ČINI LI MEĐUNARODNA ZAJEDN. Collected Papers of the Faculty of Law of the University of Rijeka, 42(3), 591–609. https://doi.org/10.30925/zpfsr.42.3.1
20) Carpenter, M. J., & Perrier, B. (2023). Yellow Vests: Anti-austerity, pro-democracy, and popular (not populist). Frontiers in Political Science, 5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2023.1037942
21) Christodoulou, E., & Iordanou, K. (2021). Democracy Under Attack: Challenges of Addressing Ethical Issues of AI and Big Data for More Democratic Digital Media and Societies. Frontiers in Political Science, 3. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2021.682945
22) Csehi, R. (2023). The challenge populist governments pose for the process and theory of European integration. West European Politics, 46(1), 219–240. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2021.1988388
23) Das, R. (2018). Populist discourse on a British social media patient-support community: The case of the Charlie Gard support campaign on Facebook. Discourse, Context and Media, 24, 76–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2017.11.005
24) Deák, D. (2014). Unorthodoxy in legislation: The Hungarian experience. Society and Economy, 36(2), 151–184. https://doi.org/10.1556/SocEc.36.2014.2.2
25) Erőss, Á. (2022). The symbolic landscape of an illiberal regime: Glorifying the interwar era in post-2010 Budapest | A paisagem simbólica de um regime iliberal: Glorificando o período entre guerras na Budapeste pós-2010. Tempo (Brazil), 28(3), 361–381. https://doi.org/10.1590/TEM-1980-542X2022v280317
26) Flew, T. (2019). Digital communication, the crisis of trust, and the post-global. Communication Research and Practice, 5(1), 4–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/22041451.2019.1561394
27) Foa, R. S., & Mounk, Y. (2021). America after Trump: from “clean” to “dirty” democracy? Policy Studies, 42(5–6), 455–472. https://doi.org/10.1080/01442872.2021.1957459
28) Grigoriadis, I. N., & Işık Canpolat, E. (2024). Elite Universities as Populist Scapegoats: Evidence from Hungary and Turkey. East European Politics and Societies, 38(2), 432–454. https://doi.org/10.1177/08883254231203338
29) Guasti, P., & de Almeida, D. R. (2019). Claims of misrepresentation: A comparison of Germany and Brazil. Politics and Governance, 7(3), 152–164. https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v7i3.2143
30) Hamilton, C. (2023). Speaking Rights to Populism? Using Emotion as the Language of Values. Journal of Human Rights Practice, 15(3), 692–701. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhuman/huad022
31) Howarth, D., & Roussos, K. (2023). Radical democracy, the commons and everyday struggles during the Greek crisis. British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 25(2), 311–327. https://doi.org/10.1177/13691481211067147
32) Howe, R. B., & Covell, K. (2021). Meeting the Challenge of Populism to Children’s Rights: The Value of Human Rights Education. Journal of Human Rights Practice, 13(1), 45–66. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhuman/huab002
33) Humble, K. (2022). Populism and the Threat to International Law. Laws, 11(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/laws11030050
34) Khaitan, T. (2020). Killing a constitution with a thousand cuts: Executive aggrandizement and party-state fusion in India. Law and Ethics of Human Rights, 14(1), 49–95. https://doi.org/10.1515/lehr-2020-2009
35) Krygier, M. (2024). Well-Tempered Power: ‘A Cultural Achievement of Universal Significance.’ Hague Journal on the Rule of Law. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40803-024-00226-3
36) Lee, F. (2023). Populism, democracy, and the post-2020 Republican Party in Congress. Presidential Studies Quarterly, 53(2), 169–185. https://doi.org/10.1111/psq.12817
37) Maatsch, A. (2021). Disempowerment through the Backdoor: The Impact of Populist Parties on the National Parliament in Poland. Parliamentary Affairs, 74(4), 786–801. https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsab008
38) Machinya, J. (2022). Migration and Politics in South Africa: Mainstreaming Anti-Immigrant Populist Discourse. African Human Mobility Review, 8(1), 59–78. https://doi.org/10.14426/ahmr.v8i1.1071
39) Mauk, M. (2020). Rebuilding trust in broken systems? Populist party success and citizens’ trust in democratic institutions. Politics and Governance, 8(3), 45–58. https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v8i3.2896
40) Metawe, M. (2024). Populism and domestic/international politics: theory and practice. Review of Economics and Political Science, 9(3), 194–211. https://doi.org/10.1108/REPS-11-2019-0146
41) Monciunskaite, B. (2023). THE RISKS TO JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE IN LATVIA: A VIEW EIGHTEEN YEARS SINCE EU ACCESSION. Croatian Yearbook of European Law and Policy, 18, 129–149. https://doi.org/10.3935/cyelp.18.2022.482
42) Navot, S. (2023). An Overview of Israel’s ‘Judicial Overhaul’: Small Parts of a Big Populist Picture. Israel Law Review, 56(3), 482–501. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021223723000262
43) Navot, S., & Lurie, G. (2024). An Attack on the Rule of Law in Israel. Israel Studies Review, 39(1), 20–37. https://doi.org/10.3167/isr.2024.390102
44) Osler, A., & Starkey, H. (2018). Extending the theory and practice of education for cosmopolitan citizenship. Educational Review, 70(1), 31–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2018.1388616
45) Özer, S., Güneş Gülal, A. G., & Polat, Y. K. (2023). The rule of law in the grip of populist authoritarianism: Hungary and Poland. Politics and Policy, 51(5), 936–959. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12554
46) Petri, G., & Hruskó, E. (2024). Can Disability Rights Flourish in Backsliding Democracies? – The Case of Hungary. Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, 26(1), 349–365. https://doi.org/10.16993/sjdr.1053
47) Prasad, A. (2020). The organization of ideological discourse in times of unexpected crisis: Explaining how COVID-19 is exploited by populist leaders. Leadership, 16(3), 294–302. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715020926783
48) Rogenhofer, J. M., & Panievsky, A. (2020). Antidemocratic populism in power: comparing Erdoğan’s Turkey with Modi’s India and Netanyahu’s Israel. Democratization, 1394–1412. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2020.1795135
49) Rydlinski, B. M. (2018). Viktor Orbán - First among illiberals? Hungarian and Polish steps towards populist democracy. Online Journal Modelling the New Europe, 26, 95–107. https://doi.org/10.24193/OJMNE.2018.26.07
50) Soyaltin Colella, D., Saatçioğlu, B., & Buhari Gülmez, D. (2023). Illiberal challenges to the European Union’s legitimacy from within and without: the rule of law and refugee crises. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 31(4), 1192–1205. https://doi.org/10.1080/14782804.2022.2112158
51) Stambulski, M. (2024). Populist Jurisprudence? Examining Selected Case Law of the Polish Constitutional Court After 2016. Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, 16(2), 245–262. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40803-024-00208-5
52) Szente, Z. (2021). The Twilight of Parliament - Parliamentary Law and Practice in Hungary in Populist Times. International Journal of Parliamentary Studies, 1(1), 127–145. https://doi.org/10.1163/26668912-bja10001
53) Wuttke, A., Schimpf, C., & Schoen, H. (2023). Populist Citizens in four European Countries: Widespread Dissatisfaction goes with Contradictory but Pro-democratic Regime Preferences. Swiss Political Science Review, 29(2), 246–257. https://doi.org/10.1111/spsr.12548
54) Yabanci, B., & Taleski, D. (2018). Co-opting religion: how ruling populists in Turkey and Macedonia sacralise the majority. Religion, State and Society, 46(3), 283–304. https://doi.org/10.1080/09637494.2017.1411088
Volume 07 Issue 10 October 2024
There is an Open Access article, distributed under the term of the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits remixing, adapting and building upon the work for non-commercial use, provided the original work is properly cited.
Our Services and Policies
Authors should prepare their manuscripts according to the instructions given in the authors' guidelines. Manuscripts which do not conform to the format and style of the Journal may be returned to the authors for revision or rejected.
The Journal reserves the right to make any further formal changes and language corrections necessary in a manuscript accepted for publication so that it conforms to the formatting requirements of the Journal.
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Analysis will publish 12 monthly online issues per year,IJMRA publishes articles as soon as the final copy-edited version is approved. IJMRA publishes articles and review papers of all subjects area.
Open access is a mechanism by which research outputs are distributed online, Hybrid open access journals, contain a mixture of open access articles and closed access articles.
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Analysis initiate a call for research paper for Volume 07 Issue 12 (December 2024).
PUBLICATION DATES:
1) Last Date of Submission : 26 December 2024 .
2) Article published within a week.
3) Submit Article : editor@ijmra.in or Online
Why with us
1 : IJMRA only accepts original and high quality research and technical papers.
2 : Paper will publish immediately in current issue after registration.
3 : Authors can download their full papers at any time with digital certificate.
The Editors reserve the right to reject papers without sending them out for review.
Authors should prepare their manuscripts according to the instructions given in the authors' guidelines. Manuscripts which do not conform to the format and style of the Journal may be returned to the authors for revision or rejected. The Journal reserves the right to make any further formal changes and language corrections necessary in a manuscript accepted for publication so that it conforms to the formatting requirements of the Journal.