We invite you to a meeting with Prof. Özgür Özdamar from Bilkent University, who will present advanced results of his work on his forthcoming book “The Populist Prince”. The event will be held in English.
In this project, Prof. Özdamar presents a theoretically grounded analysis of the return of personalist, centralized, emotional, and confrontational leadership in contemporary politics. Drawing on Machiavelli and his “The Prince”, he develops the concept of “neo-Machiavellian populism” to explain how leaders consolidate power by manipulating fear, identity, and institutional weaknesses.
By combining classical political philosophy with psychology, political science, foreign policy analysis, and leadership studies, the author argues that the most influential populists of the 21st century are not merely demagogues, but strategic actors who combine moralizing rhetoric with a calculated approach to politics—including with regard to violence. They undermine the postwar liberal-democratic order through both ideology and the performative management of crisis and fear.
Based on comparative case studies from various political contexts, *The Populist Prince* proposes an analytical framework for understanding the psychological and structural mechanisms that enable the development of personalist leadership amid the erosion of democracy and global uncertainty. The book encourages a reevaluation of the relevance of the Machiavellian art of governance in an era of spectacle, emotion, and permanent crisis.
The event will take place on April 14 at 1:15 p.m. in the Jan Baszkiewicz Auditorium.
