Walking the thin line between populism and Christian democratic popularism.
What happens when a political tradition built on consensus meets the disruptive force of populism? This volume explores the complex and evolving relationship between Christian Democracy and populist politics across Europe, from the nineteenth century to the present.
Bringing together vivid case studies from Austria, France, Belgium, Italy and Portugal, as well as an analysis of the European People’s Party, it reveals how Christian Democratic parties have navigated the pressures of populism: sometimes resisting it, sometimes adapting to it, and often walking a thin line in between. Historical chapters shed light on influential movements and key figures, while contemporary analyses examine how today’s leaders respond to rising political polarisation and voter discontent.
Accessible and thought-provoking, Between Populism and Popularism offers readers a deeper understanding of how Europe’s political centre has been shaped, challenged and transformed over the past 150 years.
Michael Gehler
Michael Gehler is Head of the Institute of History and Jean Monnet Chair for Modern and Contemporary History of Germany and Europe and European Integration at the University of Hildesheim and Professor at Andrássy University Budapest.
Peter Heyrman
Peter Heyrman is Head of Research at KADOC, the Interfaculty Documentation and Research Centre on Religion, Culture and Society of KU Leuven.
Alex Andrione-Moylan
Bruno Béthouart
John W. Boyer
Rita Durão
Lien Jansen
Christiane Liermann Traniello
Pedro Ponte e Sousa
Steven Van Hecke
Steven Van Hecke is professor of European politics at KU Leuven and visiting professor at the University of Sarajevo. He conducts research on European political parties, EU institutions, and the history of European integration. In 2024, he wrote the book essay Het kantelende continent (Acco), which has now been expanded and translated as Brave Old Continent?.
Why have Europe's Christian Democratic parties sometimes tamed populism and at other times fuelled it? This timely and original collection explores this question, tracing it from Karl Lueger's Vienna to Sebastian Kurz's Austria, and from the French Fourth Republic to the present-day European People's Party. Recovering the forgotten concept of popularism — Christian Democracy's ambition to speak for a whole society rather than merely opposing its elites — the volume reveals a tradition that is neither immune to populism's allure nor synonymous with it. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how Europe's centre held, and why it sometimes failed to do so. - Fabio Wolkenstein, University of Vienna
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