Discourse, Hegemony, and Populism in the Visegrád Four

This is the first book-length account of populism in the Visegrá d Four (V4) countries - Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia - for the first 30 years of multi-party competition since the transformative events of 1989-91 in Central and Eastern Europe.

Advancing a post-foundational approach to populism based on a semi-formal reading of Ernesto Laclau's theory, the book undertakes a detailed examination of how the 'people' has been constructed in populist discourses in the party systems of the four countries since 1989. Drawing on a wealth of source material, the book offers both a wide-ranging and in-depth overview and classification of populism in the V4 in terms of discursive (e. g. centrist, conservative, left-wing, liberal, nationalist, social) and hegemonic type (e. g. authoritarian hegemonic, generational counter-hegemonic) alike.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars of populism, party politics, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Introduction: Discourse, Hegemony, Populism, and the Visegrád Four 1. Discourse - Hegemony - Populism: A Conceptual Horizon 2. Discourse - Hegemony - Populism: A Framework for Analysis 3. Populism in the Czech Republic 4. Populism in Hungary 5. Populism in Poland 6. Populism in Slovakia 7. Conclusions: Discourse, Hegemony, and Populism after '89