Historical Border Instability and Democratic Backlash

In this episode of the History-Politics Podcast, host David Myers speaks with UCLA political scientist Luwei Ying about her research linking historical border instability to the contemporary rise of populist politics. Drawing on her work as a Luskin Center for History and Policy grantee and the report she co-authored with David B. Carter and Sadaf Vafa, Luwei explains that regions which experienced repeated shifts in sovereignty, such as areas between France and Germany or territories historically contested in Eastern Europe, often developed weaker state institutions and lower levels of public trust. By combining historical border data stretching back to the thirteenth century with modern electoral patterns, the research finds that communities with long histories of unstable authority are more likely to exhibit skepticism toward government and support populist movements.

The conversation emphasizes that border instability does not directly produce a particular ideology, such as fascism or populism, but instead fosters long-term receptivity to anti-establishment politics. According to Luwei, globalization, immigration, and economic shocks may act as contemporary triggers, yet their effects vary depending on the historical institutional foundations of a region. Where governance has historically been fragile, such pressures are more likely to intensify distrust in political elites. 

Read the full report here: Historical Border Insecurity and the Rise of Populism

Luwei Ying is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles. She received her Ph.D. in political science at Washington University in St. Louis in 2022. Ying studies international relations, examining how militant organizations propagate ideologies to mobilize, recruit, and exercise control over individual members and how these ideological strategies fit into the groups’ broader military agendas. She received the 2022 Peace Science Society Walter Isard Award for the best dissertation in Peace Science. Her work has been awarded the Best Paper in International Relations Award, the Pi Sigma Alpha Award for the best paper presented at the 2019 MPSA Conference, and the Best Poster Award at the PolMeth XXXVII Summer Meeting. Her published work has appeared in American Political Science Review, Political Analysis and the Journal of Conflict Resolution.