Populist communication during times of crisis across party lines

Abstract

This study examines the impact of crises on the use of populist communication and whether crises act as triggers for such communication. Whereas previous studies have focused on how populist challengers mobilise support during times of crisis, less attention has been paid to the overall usage of populist communication among political parties during periods of crisis. Therefore, this study takes a communication-oriented approach to analyse the overall usage of populist communication during two different crises, namely the euro crisis and the refugee crisis, to determine which one, if either, provides fertile ground for populist political communication. The findings reveal that crises do affect the usage of populist communication, although to different degrees depending on the crisis. Furthermore, niche and opposition parties utilise such communication more than mainstream and government parties. It is therefore suggested that crises influence the use of populist messaging, but factors such as government role and party status also significantly affect the usage of populist communication.

Keywords

• populism
• euro crisis
• refugee crisis
• finland
• parliament