Populist Political Communication in Europe
Populist Political Communication in Europe:
Comprehending the Challenge of Mediated Political Populism for Democratic Politics
This COST Action brought together researchers to investigate populist political communication and its impact on democratic political life across Europe. This was necessary not only in light of recent populist backlashes in many democracies against governments and political and economic developments, but also in respect to changes in national media and communication systems.
In order to comprehend this poorly understood aspect of contemporary political communication, the Action examined three interconnected, but distinct aspects of populist political communication:
First, populist political communication actors and their communication strategies. Second, the media and populist discourses and frames. Third, citizen's engagement with populist political messages and the effect of these messages.
The Action provided a thorough critical review of existing knowledge, much improved research coordination, widened cooperation between scholars, bridged gaps in existing knowledge and strengthened dialogue with various societal stakeholders, benefitting media organizations, NGOs and policy actors as well as the wider scientific community.
Although the Action has now ended, the outcome and activities will continue, in new established networks, in research applications and not the least in publications. More about the activities can be found on various pages of this Action website.
Action Period: From 7 April 2014 to 6 April 2018
COST is supported by the EU Framework Programme Horizon 2020