Abstract
The growth of populist parties across Europe has fundamentally altered the political landscape of the continent, presenting unprecedented challenges to established democracies. It rises concerns within national and international actors about how to respond to these challenges. This dilemma is particularly significant for public authorities that have a range of repressive and tolerant instruments at their disposal that can be used against populist parties. The study offers an in-depth analysis of how national and international public authorities have addressed the expansion of populism in Europe. The aim of this paper is to deepen understanding of patterns in the way public authorities responded to populist parties across Europe and to explain the rationale behind the observed responses. Drawing on empirical research carried out by an international team across seven European countries, this article employs quantitative and qualitative methods to examine opposition initiatives of public authorities at the national and international level targeting nine populist parties.
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