Theories on the Roots of the EU and the Western Balkans Rise of Populism

As we have witnessed, such a fertile state of conflict was created by the destructive economic consequences of the Yugoslav disintegration crisis (1991—1995), the Global Financial Crisis (2008), the European Debt Crisis (2009—2015) and the Eu- ropean migrant crisis (2015), whereas the content that united the electorates in the aftermath of these crises differed internationally depending on the his. [...] The top-down macro approach: The Economic Crisis Hypothesis The traditionalist on populism in the past decade focuses on the economic crisis hy- pothesis as the root cause for the emergence of populism. [...] The macro level influence of this hypoth- esis is based on Piketty’s (2014) theory of economic inequality which centres around the explanation for the uneven return of economic growth momentum in the post-crisis period which did not reflect a net positive benefit in the incomes of the majority of the population. [...] The dominant capital allocation in the metropolis followed by the processes of automation and growth of the tech economy created populist discourse and a split in society between the less well-off and the well-off, which can be seen in the correlation between voting for populist parties and an increased feeling of short-term economic insecurity or ex- periencing high levels of perceived economic h. [...] In these countries the leaders in power follow the profile of patriarchal fathers of the nation posing as saviours of “the people” which gets them repeatedly re-elected despite the overall dissatisfaction with the state of politics and persistent lack of trust in the government (Figure 1).