Does Populism Matter in EU–China Relations? The Cases of Italy and Czechia
研究了民粹主义是否影响欧盟成员国对华外交政策，通过意大利和捷克的案例发现民粹政府更亲华，但影响通过厚意识形态、经济实用主义和国际定位等变量间接实现。
Abstract This article investigates whether populism affects the foreign policy of European Union (EU) member states towards China and, if so, through what mechanisms. In order to answer this question, we examine the cases of Italy and Czechia, both of which went through turbulent relations with China in the recent decade whilst also experiencing several government changes between populist and non‐populist parties. Our analysis reveals that whilst populist‐led governments appeared to be more China‐friendly than non‐populist governments, the impact of populism is not direct but mediated through other variables, namely, thick ideology, economic pragmatism and international positioning. We propose this model as a hypothesis for testing in future research. In addition, our findings suggest a need to rethink the relationship between thin–thick ideologies in the study of populism and to emphasise the role of ‘economic pragmatism’ as a mediating variable, which has been largely missing from the literature on populist foreign policy.