The Issues of the »Populists«: A Media Analysis of Election Campaigns in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Poland

Abstract

The article deals with the issues of populist parties that have so far received only little attention in research. Based on a theoretical approach of defining populism, the article presents the results of a media analysis during national election campaigns (2011–2013) in five selected countries in terms of the issues associated with populist parties studied. The results support in particular the thesis of a »thin ideology« of populist parties.