From Competition to Polarization in Central Europe: How Populists Change Party Systems and the European Union

Political competition in some member states of the European Union has shifted to issues of identity as populist parties take positions defending “the people.” This symposium contribution sketches how polarization goes hand in hand with democratic backsliding in Hungary and Poland, how a somewhat different dynamic is playing out in the Czech Republic, and how ruling populists in all three states treat the European Union and Russia. It concludes by considering the consequences of this populist and illiberal turn for the European Union’s power and for democratization in the Western Balkans.