Tornano le élite, scompaiono i populisti. Ipotesi “imprudenti” sul futuro dell’Unione europea

The article discusses the consequences that recent international crises, in particular the Covid-19 pandemic, are having on populist parties, in particular populist radical right parties (PRRPs) and the so-called "elite system". Numerous analyses currently do provide a rather simplistic, black-and-white, read of European politics, signaling discontinuity from the pre-pandemic period. According to these, populist parties would be the "great losers of Covid-19", while elites (especially epistemic elites, but not only) would have benefited from such a situation by regaining a kind of lost legitimacy. In our paper we attempt to consider this framework by recalling that - especially as regards the European Union - it is undeniable that tensions exist in the elite-people relationship, and these are very significant in relation to (a) the relationship between far-right and populism and (b) the mainstreaming dynamic of the radical and extreme right. While recognizing a background modified by the pandemic and some significant transformations occurred in specific contexts, we advise to avoid imprudent conclusions while not overlooking the actual changes taking place.