Sovereignism and Populism: Citizens, Voters and Parties in Western European Democracies

At a time when populism and appeal for national and popular sovereignty are on the rise – in Europe, the USA, and beyond – this volume proposes a new research agenda in political science that focuses on the linkages between populist and sovereignism in Europe. The book’s core question is to know and describe whether, how, and to what extent populism has been able to articulate the calls for ‘taking back control’ of the national borders and authority, by looking at both the ‘demand’ and ‘supply’ sides. Through compelling empirical analyses, the authors offer fresh data and theoretical insights on the determinants of the support for sovereigntist claims and its impact on voting choices, as well as on the features of the sovereignist discourse in populist parties. Coupled with the growing electoral success of party-based populism, sovereignism actually poses challenges to the ongoing processes of supranational integration. This urges a timely rethinking of democratic politics and calls for far-sighted alternatives to ‘taking back control’ to address the impact of globalisation and regionalisation on contemporary societies. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal, European Politics and Society.