The studies of populism in North America and Europe have reached an agreement upon the basic nature of populism in the Western liberal democracies. As a “thin” ideology, populism is found to be authoritarian, antipluralistic, welfarism-oriented, and chauvinistic. Populism in the West is related to economic conditions and, because of which, the sense of being deprived among some social groups. Populism in the Asia-Pacific region has not, however, been thoroughly investigated. The extant literature does not agree upon the characteristics of populism in this region, compared with its western counterpart. Some believe that it is the same story as in those North American and West European democracies, others believe not.

The conference is thus to invite the Asia-Pacific experts in the world to get together and exchange their empirical observations and research findings on populism in the Asian-Pacific countries, such as the details of its making, consequences, and implications. We intend to draw a comprehensive picture of populism in Asia and construct a comparative framework to contrast the models of populism in different political systems in the Asia-Pacific with the conventional wisdom derived from the West. Quantitative research based upon innovative data approaches is highly preferred.