Populism in power and regional (dis-)integration: charting paths of populist regionalism in Europe and Latin America

How do populists approach regional integration from the government? Existing research shows that a rhetoric backlash against regional organizations and their bureaucracies is central to contemporary populist leaderships, which increasingly project the ideational antagonism between ‘the people’ and ‘the elites’ onto the regional level. However, the various ways in which populists engage with regionalism when in power and controlling foreign policy apparatuses remain disputed. This study develops a typological framework that addresses both the sign of populist governments in legitimizing or delegitimizing regionalist processes and the magnitude of the efforts devoted to this purpose. Combining the two variables, this article charts four different paths of populist regionalism (a-regionalism, anti-regionalism, pro-regionalism, and para-regionalism), which are illustrated through examples from Europe and Latin America. The findings of this study elucidate common and varied elements in the strategic approach of populists in power towards regional (dis)integration, contributing to the emerging scholarly engagement with the multi-level effects of populism in Europe, the Americas, and beyond.