The paper by Ronald F. Inglehart and Pippa Norris examines the rise of populist parties in Western societies, focusing on two main theories: economic insecurity and cultural backlash. The authors use data from the 2014 Chapel Hill Expert Survey to identify the ideological positions of political parties in 31 European countries and compare national-level party competition. They find that cultural values, combined with social and demographic factors, are the most consistent predictors of voting for populist parties. The study concludes that the popularity of populist parties is largely due to ideological appeals to traditional values among older generations, men, the less educated, religious groups, and ethnic majorities. The authors argue that these groups feel estranged from the predominant values in their countries, driven by progressive cultural changes they do not share. While economic insecurity plays a role, it is not the sole explanation for the rise of populism. The cultural backlash thesis, which emphasizes the reaction against progressive cultural shifts, is found to be more consistent with the data.The paper by Ronald F. Inglehart and Pippa Norris examines the rise of populist parties in Western societies, focusing on two main theories: economic insecurity and cultural backlash. The authors use data from the 2014 Chapel Hill Expert Survey to identify the ideological positions of political parties in 31 European countries and compare national-level party competition. They find that cultural values, combined with social and demographic factors, are the most consistent predictors of voting for populist parties. The study concludes that the popularity of populist parties is largely due to ideological appeals to traditional values among older generations, men, the less educated, religious groups, and ethnic majorities. The authors argue that these groups feel estranged from the predominant values in their countries, driven by progressive cultural changes they do not share. While economic insecurity plays a role, it is not the sole explanation for the rise of populism. The cultural backlash thesis, which emphasizes the reaction against progressive cultural shifts, is found to be more consistent with the data.