Populism in East Asian Democracies: Report on the International Lecture Series of the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany (Oct 2020–Feb 2021)

Abstract

Diagnosing a gap in our knowledge on populist phenomena in East Asian democracies, especially the lack of attention paid to the region by comparative studies, the organisers of the online lecture series ‘Populism in East Asian Democracies’ (PinEAD) brought together small but substantial research on East Asia by inviting presentations by nine experts, three each on Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Their findings showed how different phenomena and actors analysed as populists in East Asian democracies are from those in Europe or the Americas. They also highlighted how heterogeneous the group of politicians referred to as ‘East Asian populists’ is. While, on an abstract level, most East Asian populists are similar, in that they appeal to voters discontented with the democratically elected ruling parties and executives and promise to govern in a way more favourable to ‘the people’, they do so in ways that differentiate them from the standard style of political campaigning and rhetoric in their respective country.