Description
In The Populist Prince, I offer a theoretically grounded analysis of the resurgence of personalist, centralist, emotionally charged, and contentious leadership in contemporary politics. Drawing upon Machiavelli’s insights from The Prince, I argue that “neo-Machiavellian populism” explains how leaders consolidate power by manipulating fear, identity, and institutional weakness.
Bridging classic philosophy with contemporary psychology, political science, foreign policy analysis, and leadership studies, I argue that the most consequential populist leaders of the twenty-first century operate not merely as demagogues but as strategic actors who combine moralized rhetoric with a calculated approach to politics, including violence. They subvert the post-World War 2 liberal-democratic consensus through ideology, and performative mastery of crisis and fear.
Integrating comparative case studies from diverse political contexts, The Populist Prince advances a framework for understanding the psychological and structural mechanisms that enable personalist leaders to thrive under conditions of democratic erosion and global uncertainty. It ultimately invites scholars and practitioners to reconsider the enduring relevance of Machiavellian statecraft in an era defined by spectacle, emotion, and crisis.
