title: Democracy and Populism: Fear and Hatred
author:  John Lukacs 
description: A prolific historian and theorist of international relations, Lukacs (<I>The Hitler of History</I>) offers a compact view of political change in Europe and the United States from the Napoleonic Wars to the present, with a particular focus on his area of expertise, WWII and the decades just before and after. For him, Western democracy as we have known it may have already begun to follow a course similar to that of Nazi Germany, where demagogic populists seized power, took control of the media and brainwashed their way through subsequent "elections." Lukacs derides familiar models of modern politics that pit liberals against conservatives; true conservatives, who stress aristocracy and traditional authority, have (he argues) been in decline since at least 1870. Instead, modern history shows a steady increase in popular sovereignty, in the power of public opinion and in the appeal of aggressive nationalism, which tends to control that opinion given a chance&mdash;with the aid of mass media. Lukacs decries the "devolution of liberal democracy into populism" and "popular nationalism," especially but not only under George W. Bush. He also decries gay marriage, television, contemporary feminism, "permissiveness" and American "decadence." His hauteur, fast pace and frequently cantankerous asides may impede what is otherwise a thoughtful warning from a very knowledgeable source. <I>(Mar.)</I> <BR>Copyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  **Cultural Backlash**
  
  
  Authoritarian-Populist parties and leaders have advanced in many countries,
  and gained power in states as diverse as the US, Austria, Italy, the
  Netherlands, Poland, and Switzerland. Even small parties can still shift the
  policy agenda, as demonstrated by UKIP’s role in catalyzing Brexit. Drawing on
  new evidence, the book advances a general theory why the silent revolution in
  values triggered a backlash fuelling support for Authoritarian-Populist forces
  in the US and Europe. The conclusion highlights the dangers of this
  development and what could be done to mitigate the risks to liberal democracy.
  
  
  **Pippa Norris** is the McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics at the John
  F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Laureate Fellow and
  Professor of Government and International Relations at Sydney University, and
  Director of the Electoral Integrity Project. An award-winning author and
  researcher, her books include