Last year’s Brexit vote, the election of Donald Trump and electoral gains by right-wing populist parties in countries as diverse as Hungary, Switzerland and Denmark seem to demonstrate that right-wing populist sentiment is on the rise in affluent democracies. But in Europe, at least, that’s simply not the case. In […] Read more »
In ‘The Retreat of Western Liberalism,’ How Democracy Is Defeating Itself
In his insightful and harrowing new book, Edward Luce, a columnist for The Financial Times, issues a chilling warning: “Western liberal democracy is not yet dead,” he writes, “but it is far closer to collapse than we may wish to believe. It is facing its gravest challenge since the Second […] Read more »
Angela Merkel Viewed More Positively Among Democrats Than GOP
More than a decade into her tenure as chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel has a 2-to-1 more positive image among U.S. Democrats than among Republicans. Fifty-five percent of Democrats say they have a favorable opinion, compared with 23% of Republicans. CONT. Art Swift, Gallup Read more »
Donald Trump Is Making Europe Liberal Again
… So if you’re keeping score at home, right-wing nationalist parties have had disappointing results in Austria, the Netherlands, France and the U.K., and they appear poised for one in Germany, although there’s a long way to go there. I haven’t cherry-picked these outcomes; these are the the major elections […] Read more »
Uncertainty, More Than Populism, Is New Normal in Western Politics
Theresa May, Britain’s prime minister, has joined a long line of politicians who have gambled that they understood the populist wave overtaking Western politics and lost. Thursday’s election capped a year in which the latest theory of politics in the populist era perpetually seemed to prove incorrect, as did many […] Read more »
Global Publics More Upbeat About the Economy
Nearly a decade after the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, economic spirits are reviving. Many Europeans, Japanese and Americans feel better today about their economies than they did before the financial crisis. More broadly, in 11 of 18 countries from across the globe that were surveyed in both […] Read more »