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Greece, Portugal and Spain are among the countries worst hit by the 2008 Great Recession, with significant electoral and political turmoil since then. However, one of the dimensions in which they differ is the presence and varieties of populism in parties' political proposals. Drawing on holistic coding of party manifestos, we assess the varying presence of populist features in mainstream and challenging parties before and after the 2008 economic downturn. Our empirical findings show that populism is significantly higher in Greece compared to Spain and Portugal. We do not find a significant impact of the crisis as the degree of populism remains rather stable in Greece and Portugal, while it increases in Spain, mainly due to the rise of new populist forces. In addition, inclusionary populism is the predominant flavour of populist parties in new Southern Europe, although exclusionary populism is present to a lesser extent in the Greek case. Finally, we contend the national context-namely the ideological legacy of parties and the strategic options of party leadership-, is crucial for explaining crosscountry variation in the intensity of populism and the specific issues that characterise populist discourse.

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