Angels or Demons? Contemporary Populist Leadership in Central and Eastern Europe

The panel focuses on the phenomenon of the populist leaders and leadership in the region of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). It is composed of five case studies focusing on the circumstances of the CEE populist leader’s coming to power, the methods, means, tools and mechanisms of creating and managing their public image, an assessment of the effectiveness of the populist features used, and a forecast of the potential perspective and evolution of the populist leadership in the respective countries of the region concerned. The way of treating the phenomenon of populism through the prism of leaders' agency is original and has not been analyzed as frequently as other aspects of populism.