Supporters of the anti-establishment populist 5 Star Movement Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images

Can Movement Politics Renew European Democracy?

One might expect diffuse, grassroots movements that emerge from large-scale street protests to be more inclusive, deliberative, and democratic than traditional political parties. But the proliferation of personality-driven movements on both the right and the left in recent years calls that assumption into question.

PRINCETON – Many people expected the big political story of 2017 to be about the triumph of populism in Europe. But things didn’t turn out that way. Instead, the biggest story was about self-styled “movements” upending or replacing traditional political parties.

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