RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

Jean Monnet Module · Babeș-Bolyai University · Grant 101238497

Research & publications

A curated hub for the empirical, conceptual and policy work produced within POPULIST-GAMEMODE, presented alongside foundational scholarship in populism research and a vetted selection of European resources for the study, monitoring and analysis of populist discourse in the European Union.

Open call · Edited volume

Call for contributions

An open call for an edited volume produced within the POPULIST-GAMEMODE Jean Monnet Module, inviting conceptual, empirical, and methodological work on the narrative dimension of populism in European electoral politics. Abstracts are accepted until 15 August 2026.
Open from 15 June 2026

Populism and Electoral Narratives in the European Union

An edited volume produced within the POPULIST-GAMEMODE Jean Monnet Module, Babeș-Bolyai University.

Across the European Union, the electoral arena has become the privileged stage on which populist actors construct, test, and broadcast their accounts of political reality. Populism does not merely compete in elections, it narrates them. It tells voters who belongs to the people, who has betrayed it, which crises threaten it, and what a restored order should look like. These narratives travel across television, social platforms, and party communication, and they increasingly shape the terms on which European democracies deliberate and decide.

This volume turns its attention to that narrative dimension. The literature on populism as a thin-centred ideology, as a discursive logic, as a political-strategic mode of leadership, and as a performative style is by now substantial, and so is the study of electoral behaviour in the Union. What remains comparatively underexamined is the connective tissue between them, that is, the way electoral stories are built, circulated, contested, and rewarded at the ballot box. The 2024 European Parliament elections, unfolding amid a war on the Union’s borders, persistent inflation, contested migration governance, and a fraught information environment, made the stakes of this question unmistakable.

We invite conceptual, empirical, and methodological contributions that take electoral narratives seriously as objects of analysis. Comparative and single-case studies are equally welcome, with a particular interest in the dynamics of Central and Eastern Europe alongside Union-wide perspectives.

Indicative thematic axes
  1. 1 Conceptual foundations, that is, how electoral narratives connect to the ideational, discursive, strategic, and performative readings of populism, and how the notion of an electoral narrative can itself be defined and operationalised.
  2. 2 Electoral manifestations, covering campaign storytelling, the staging of the people against the elite, the performance of crisis, and the strategic uses of narrative across European, national, and subnational contests.
  3. 3 Media and disinformation, addressing the circulation of electoral narratives across legacy and digital media, the role of platforms and the attention economy, and the work of fact-checking and counter-narrative.
  4. 4 Democracy and societal resilience, examining the consequences of populist electoral narratives for representation, pluralism, and the legitimacy of the European project, alongside the civic, educational, and institutional resources that sustain democratic resilience.
  5. 5 Case studies, comprising single-country and comparative analyses, with particular attention to Central and Eastern Europe and to questions of method, measurement, and research design.
Submission guidelines

  • Abstracts of approximately 300 words, accompanied by 5 keywords and a short biographical note of up to 100 words.

  • Contributions may be written in English or Romanian. The work appears as two distinct volumes, one per language. Submissions must be original and not under consideration elsewhere.

  • Full chapters of 6,000 to 8,000 words, references included, formatted in APA 7th edition.

  • All chapters will undergo editorial and peer review.

Key dates
  1. 15 June 2026 Call opens
  2. 15 August 2026 Deadline for abstract submission
  3. 20 August 2026 Notification of abstract acceptance
  4. 15 October 2026 Deadline for full manuscripts
  5. Oct to Dec 2026 Peer review and revisions
  6. January 2027 Estimated publication
Volume editor: Mihai Alexandrescu, Babeș-Bolyai University Publisher: Presa Universitară Clujeană (TBC)
Submit to contact@populistgamemode.com
I · Module outputs

Policy papers

Four policy papers produced as part of the annual conference 2026, translating the research, training, and dissemination activities of the conference into actionable recommendations addressed to European institutions, national policymakers, education stakeholders, and civil-society organisations. All outputs are open-access and may be freely cited, shared, and used in teaching, research, or policy work, with appropriate attribution. See also the dedicated conference page.
01

About populism in the European Union

Populism as a thin-centred ideology, difficult to identify in its incipient phases, capable of adapting to the overlapping crises of the European Union.

Policy paper · 2026

02

Populism, citizenship, and EU decision-making: a research-informed agenda

Synthesises findings from the annual conference and Workshop 1 into a structured set of policy recommendations across EU institutional, member-state, and civic levels.

Policy paper · 2026

03

Recommendations on critical thinking and media literacy in higher education

Distils outcomes from Workshop 2 on counter-populist communication strategies into recommendations for university curricula and faculty development.

Policy paper · 2026

04

Populist Discourse Observatory

A student-driven research platform tracking and fact-checking populist narratives about the European Union across member states.

Platform · 2026

II · Authors

Team, alumni & invited speakers

Peer-reviewed publications by the project coordinator, the core teaching and research team, alumni of the master’s programme in Leadership and Communication in International Organisations, and invited speakers participating in the annual conference and round table.

Project coordinator

  • Alexandrescu, M. (Ed.). (2024). European Parliament: Between elections and action. Cluj-Napoca: Presa Universitară Clujeană. ISBN 978-606-37-2342-1.
  • Alexandrescu, M. (Ed.). (2023). Citizens of the European Union: Status, identity and beyond. Cluj-Napoca: Presa Universitară Clujeană. ISBN 978-606-37-1935-6.
  • Alexandrescu, M. (2025). Presuming public support for international sanctions: the European Union versus Russia (2022). Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12(1), 1962. doi.org/10.1038/s41599-025-06252-2
  • Alexandrescu, M. (2025). The wartime justification trajectory: A dynamic approach to justifying wars in the 21st century. Politics and Governance, 13. doi.org/10.17645/pag.10044
  • Alexandrescu, M. & Stoica, M.-S. (2024). Authoritarian demand in East-Central Europe post-pandemic and amid neighbouring war. Politics and Governance, 12. doi.org/10.17645/pag.8594

Core teaching & research team

Researcher · Panel Chair

Mihnea-Simion Stoica

Associate Professor · Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences · Babeș-Bolyai University

  • Stoica, M. S. (2023). Conceptualising ‘vulnerability to populist narratives’: The messianic claim of populist leaders. Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies, 22(64), 3–19.
  • Stoica, M. S. (2023). European identity in the proximity of war: Assessing support for Eurosceptic populism in Romania. In M. Alexandrescu (Ed.), Citizens of the European Union (pp. 127–144). Presa Universitară Clujeană.
  • Stoica, M. S. (2021). Populist political advertising in times of pandemic: Framing elites as anti-religious. Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies, 20(60), 115–127.
  • Stoica, M. S., Krouwel, A. & Cristea, V. (2021). Stealth populism: Explaining the rise of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians. LSE EUROPP blog.
  • Stoica, M. S. (2017). Political myths of the populist discourse. Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies, 16(46), 63–76.
ORCID 0000-0002-3295-9983 →
Panel Chair · Debate Convener

Paul Popa

Senior Lecturer · Department of International Studies and Contemporary History · Faculty of History and Philosophy · Babeș-Bolyai University

  • Popa, P. (2024). European Parliament’s international role in promoting and protecting human rights. In M. Alexandrescu (Ed.), European Parliament: Between elections and action (pp. 52–87). Presa Universitară Clujeană.
  • Popa, P. (2023). Stateless persons and third-country nationals shaping EU’s citizenship policies. In M. Alexandrescu (Ed.), Citizens of the European Union (pp. 67–92). Presa Universitară Clujeană.
  • Popa, P. (2020). Human rights challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic. Case study: Romania. Valahia University Law Study, SI, 241–250.
  • Popa, P. (2020). Aspects regarding the fundamental rights of Romanians in Italy. Anuarul Institutului de Istorie „G. Barițiu”. Supliment Historica.
ORCID 0009-0003-2872-8167 →

Alumnus of the master’s programme

Alumnus · Master’s programme

Ștefan Maroșan

Alumnus · Leadership and Communication in International Organisations · Department of International Studies and Contemporary History · Babeș-Bolyai University

  • Marosan, S. (2026). The war that must not be named? Populist electoral campaigns and the Ukraine conflict in the 2024 European Parliament elections. European Politics and Society, advance online publication. doi.org/10.1080/23745118.2026.2618185
  • Maroșan, Ș. (2024). Populism in the 2024 European Parliament elections in Romania. Case study: Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR). In M. Alexandrescu (Ed.), European Parliament: Between elections and action (pp. 166–191). Presa Universitară Clujeană.
ORCID 0000-0002-6203-5757 →

Annual conference 2026 — keynote speaker

  • Peck, R. (2019). Fox populism: Branding conservatism as working-class. Cambridge University Press.
  • Peck, R. (2022). Comparing populist media: From Fox News to the Young Turks, from cable to YouTube, from right to left. Television & New Media, 24(6).

Round table invited speakers

Invited speaker · Round Table

Natalia Cugleșan

Senior Lecturer · Department of International Studies and Contemporary History · Faculty of History and Philosophy · Babeș-Bolyai University

  • Cugleșan, N. (2024). Participatory democracy and the Conference on the Future of Europe: Can the EU institutions translate citizens’ ideas into concrete action and be a voice of reform? In M. Alexandrescu (Ed.), European Parliament: Between elections and action (pp. 117–138). Presa Universitară Clujeană.
  • Cugleșan, N. (2023). The right to have digital rights in the European Union: A step towards digital citizenship? In M. Alexandrescu (Ed.), Citizens of the European Union (pp. 39–66). Presa Universitară Clujeană.
ORCID 0000-0002-9713-6785 →
Invited speaker · Round Table

Tamás Lönhart

Associate Professor · Department of International Studies and Contemporary History · Faculty of History and Philosophy · Babeș-Bolyai University

  • Lönhart, T. (2026). Maghiarii din orașele transilvănene în perioada interbelică. In Chișinăul interbelic: luminile și umbrele unei epoci (pp. 122–131). ISBN 978-5-36241-711-6.
  • Lönhart, T. (2020). Geopolitical situation and historical development path. In Transylvania. Space, economy and society (pp. 15–106). Cluj University Press & School Foundation Publishing House.
III · A curated canon

Foundational reading list

Twelve titles selected by the POPULIST-GAMEMODE team as a curated, non-exhaustive entry into the vocabulary through which contemporary populism is discussed. The selection reflects our editorial choices and is organised in four conceptual clusters covering the founding moment of the field, the four major paradigms, the normative debate on populism and democracy, and the empirical and methodological foundations of contemporary research.
I

Foundations

Ionescu, G. & Gellner, E. (Eds.). (1969). Populism: Its meaning and national characteristics. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

The LSE founding moment of comparative populism studies, collecting the proceedings of the 1967 LSE conference and the original aporia of the field.

Canovan, M. (1981 / 1999). Populism (London: Junction Books). – and – Trust the People! Populism and the two faces of democracy. Political Studies, 47(1), 2–16. DOI (1999): 10.1111/1467-9248.00184

The first systematic typology (1981) and the two-faces-of-democracy thesis (1999) that opens the entire normative literature.

Taggart, P. (2000). Populism. Buckingham: Open University Press (Concepts in the Social Sciences).

Introduces the heartland concept and the six recurrent features that anchor European comparative work.

II

Four conceptual paradigms

Mudde, C. (2004). The populist Zeitgeist. Government and Opposition, 39(4), 541–563. DOI: 10.1111/j.1477-7053.2004.00135.x

The ideational paradigm: populism as thin-centred ideology. The international standard reference.

Laclau, E. (2005). On populist reason. London: Verso.

The discursive, post-structuralist alternative: populism as the logic of hegemonic articulation.

Weyland, K. (2001). Clarifying a contested concept: Populism in the study of Latin American politics. Comparative Politics, 34(1), 1–22. DOI: 10.2307/422412

The political-strategic paradigm: populism as a mode of exercising power through personalist leadership.

Moffitt, B. (2016). The global rise of populism: Performance, political style, and representation. Stanford: Stanford University Press. DOI: 10.11126/stanford/9780804796132.001.0001

The performative-stylistic paradigm: populism as political style and permanent performance of crisis.

III

Populism & democracy

Müller, J.-W. (2016). What is populism? Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

The antipluralism criterion: populists claim a monopoly on representing the people. The most influential recent normative formulation.

Panizza, F. (Ed.). (2005). Populism and the mirror of democracy. London: Verso.

Populism not as the outside of democracy but as the mirror of its constitutive tensions.

IV

Measurement, causes & synthesis

Hawkins, K. A. (2009). Is Chávez populist? Measuring populist discourse in comparative perspective. Comparative Political Studies, 42(8), 1040–1067. DOI: 10.1177/0010414009331721

The empirical-methodological turn: holistic grading of populist discourse, foundation of Team Populism and subsequent quantitative literature.

Norris, P. & Inglehart, R. (2019). Cultural backlash: Trump, Brexit, and authoritarian populism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/9781108595841

The most ambitious cultural-explanatory framework, anchored in three decades of European Social Survey and World Values Survey data.

Mudde, C. & Rovira Kaltwasser, C. (2017). Populism: A very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/actrade/9780190234874.001.0001

The canonical synthesis of the ideational tradition; the standard teaching text used in universities across Europe and North America.

Funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ Jean Monnet action (Grant Agreement No. 101238497, POPULIST-GAMEMODE). Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

POPULIST-GAMEMODE · Jean Monnet Module Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca