The challenge populist governments pose for the process and theory of European integration

Abstract

Although populists in government have already frustrated the common interest projects, curbed the institutional progress, and questioned the fundamental values of the European Union, integration theories have so far failed to address the question: what explains populist governments’ actions within the EU? This article claims that existing accounts either downplay the relevance or fail to grasp the complexity of populist governments, because populism disputes the democratic models and state-societal relations projected by these theories. Merging the literature on populism and theories of European integration, it is argued that populism in government exerts a transformative impact on both the democratic institutions and the society within a member state, which could have important ramifications for future integration. Highlighting the anti-plural and anti-democratic nature of populism, and the emergence of a ‘constraining consensus’ between populist governments and ‘the people’, the article proposes a complementary approach in addressing the populist challenge for European integration. Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at: 10.1080/01402382.2021.1988388.