Columbia International Affairs Online
CIAO DATE: 6/5/2007
Populism in the first European elections in the Czech Republic
March 2007
European Research Papers Archive
Abstract
The paper seeks to examine the phenomenon of populism in connection with the first EP elections in the Czech Republic (CZ). It aspires to answer the question whether the first EP elections can be described as populist and, if yes, then owing to which parties. It gives a basic overview of the electoral system, the actors involved and the voter turnout. It attempts to define populism and distinguish it from euroscepticism. The paper’s key focal point is then the application of the identified attributes of populism on those political parties that received more than 1 % of the vote. The findings lead to the rejection of the assertion about a populist character of the EP elections in the CZ, and a classification of individual actors is suggested.
