Charismatic Leadership, Populism, and the Future of Democracy in the Age of Trump

HELLENIC STUDIES SEMINAR SERIES

When:
Tuesday, April 1, 2025 | 18:00-20:00

Where:
Deree Faculty Lounge, The American College of Greece

Organized by:
The Institute of Hellenic Culture and the Liberal Arts – The American College of Greece

Speaker:
Takis S. Pappas
Independent Scholar and Author

About the seminar:

Donald Trump’s second presidency highlights the complex and often fraught relationship between charismatic leadership, populist movements, and democratic institutions. But what do we really mean by these terms? What really makes a leader “charismatic”? How should we define modern-day “populism”? More importantly, how do charisma and populism interact in ways that may erode democratic institutions? Today’s political landscape in the United States provides a compelling case for revisiting long-standing theoretical debates, making sense of the new pressures confronting liberal democracy, and anticipating the future trajectory of both American and global politics.

About the speaker:

Takis S. Pappas (PhD, Yale University) is a political scientist known for his work on global populism and democracy. A former professor of comparative politics, Dr. Papas has taught at various universities in Greece, Finland, France, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, and Hungary. His books include Populism and Liberal Democracy: A Comparative and Theoretical Analysis (Oxford University Press, 2019) and Paradoxical Country: Why Greece Lags Behind Ireland and Portugal and What Do We Learn From Them? (Patakis Publishers, 2024, in Greek). Dr. Papas is currently working on a new book project tentatively entitled “In Trump’s Era.” He is a regular columnist in the Greek newspaper Kathimerini and lives between Brussels and Athens.