Greece in Crisis: Austerity, Populism and the Politics of Blame

Within the broader debate on the G reek crisis, the theory of ‘populist democracy’ postulates that populism is fundamental to the sustenance of the G reek political system and is at the heart of G reece's endemic domestic weaknesses. This article tests this assumption empirically through the use of a sophisticated framing analysis of speeches delivered by the leaders of the five parties in the G reek parliament in the period 2009–11. The findings confirm that populism: (a) is expressed through the narratives of political actors; (b) is observed across the party system; (c) is expressed in the forms of blame‐shifting and exclusivity; and (d) differs depending on position in the party system. The article contributes to the debate by testing and building on the theory of democratic populism, providing a novel way of measuring and operationalizing populism and identifying a new typology that distinguishes between mainstream and fringe populism.