Sitzungsbericht

It was clear from the presentation by Xavier Romero Vidal that populism is losing ground, meaning a declining support for populist parties, leaders and ideas. Polarisation has decreased and trust in government has increased. However, the long decline in satisfaction with democracy, as well as the support for democratic values, continues. A possible interpretation is that citizens have a somewhat restored trust in governments when it comes to handling crises, i. e. trust is dependent on practical performance, rather than value-oriented. The confidence in experts (technocracy) and strong leaders (authoritarianism) has increased in comparison to the respect for democratic legitimacy, a trend in which younger citizens seem to be taking the lead. In the discussion there were doubts raised whether the decline in populism is really sustainable. Rather, there seems to be a symbiotic relationship between technocracy and populism, where governments try to remove important decisions from influence of the popular vote, a move which feeds populism, making democratic decision-making even more problematic, hence increasing the percepted need for expert rule. Polarisation was also discussed at length and whether there is a double movement with decreased polarisation between political parties and yet increased polarisation when it comes to certain issues, especially cultural (cancel culture) and covid vaccination policies.