Economics Lunchtime Seminar Series. “Understanding Populism: Public Perception of Political Claims”
Published: 27 May 2025
30 May 2025. Dr Jan Fałkowski, Uniwersytet Warszawski
Dr Jan Fałkowski, Uniwersytet Warszawski
"Understanding Populism: Public Perception of Political Claims"
Friday, 30 May 2025. 13:00-14:00
Room 281, Adam Smith Business School
Abstract
While there has been extensive academic debate on how to define and measure populism, much less is known about how this phenomenon is perceived by the general public. In this paper, we address this gap by investigating how ordinary citizens evaluate the populist content of political statements. In particular, we examine whether these assessments are influenced by the partisan affiliation of the politicians delivering the statements, the wording of the messages, or the individual characteristics of those making the assessments. Using a randomised experimental design with a group of economics students in Poland, we find that it is not the topic but the language of the statement that matters for the evaluation. In particular, statements containing emotionally loaded adjectives are assessed as more populist. Moreover, although information about the author of the statement influenced some evaluations, in the majority of cases it was not relevant. We also find that women rate the statements as more populist and appear to be more sensitive to information about the author than men. Finally, supporters of the current governing coalition tend to rate statements by representatives of the ruling camp as less populist.
Bio
Jan Fałkowski is an Associate Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warsaw. His primary research interests lie in political economy and institutional economics. His recent work has explored topics such as the impact of political speech on financial markets, the role of economic issues in parliamentary debate, political polarisation, and the influence of religiosity on civic engagement. His research has recently been published, among other outlets, in the European Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Comparative Economics, Journal of Institutional Economics, and Public Choice.
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First published: 27 May 2025