Our latest event organized by AEGEE-Budapest’s very own „Get Involved!” Project explored the topic of populism. Approximately 50 students from different universities and academic fields attended the event. The discussion was part of the lecture series preceding the Franck Biancheri Award winner Conference “Education for the present, Democracy for the future” organized in April by the Budapest antenna, the Civic Education Working Group and the Europe on Track Project. After two successful events examining the current political state of Turkey and the integration of refugees the Project chose another actual and relevant subject.
During a round table discussion our invited experts (Ádám Paár and Ágoston Mráz political scientists, and Zoltán Farkas, journalist) explored what populism really means, how people and the media use the term, thus we got to know the origins of the expression.
Furthermore, the audience could get to know the reasons why populism is so wide-spread nowadays, how it has become mainstream, and what its effects on politics are.
Besides describing possible outcomes and future trends, questions of the audience were answered and discussed.
All in all, the event brought us a closer look and better understanding of populism, a word and a trend that influences the political atmosphere all around the globe these days.