Skip to main content

Populism, Ideology and Discourse in the Global South

Grant Mitchell

Contact: mitchellg(at)ceu.edu

Pre-doctoral Researcher, CEU Democracy Institute (Brigham Young University previously)

Grant Mitchell is a pre-doctoral researcher at the CEU Democracy Institute from Brigham Young University. Grant has a degree in Political Science from Brigham Young, with an emphasis in Statistics. His research interests include regime change, political parties and organizations, populism, and polarization. More specifically, Grant looks at how different parties and organizations affect democratic quality, with a particular focus on undemocratic movements and parties.

Research project

The Various Effect of Populism on Participation and Representation

The study of populism and democratic quality has produced a rich line of research documenting the harmful effect of populist incumbents on democratic quality. However, scholars have long theorized about populism’s potential positive effect on participation and representation in democratic systems. Nevertheless, empirical research on the topic is mixed at best, with no clear evidence supporting the claims. Additionally, we know little about the causal mechanisms connecting populisms and to its more corrective outcomes. In this project, I improve upon the literature by 1) using updated and more conceptually sound measures of populism and 2) using individual-level data to test the several causal mechanisms posited by the literature connecting populism to increased participation and feelings of representation.