Paul Summerville

Paul Summerville is an economist, educator, and former investment-banking professional who has taught at the University of Victoria's Peter B. Gustavson School of Business. He co-wrote Reclaiming Populism with Harvard Growth Lab researcher Eric Protzer. Polity published the book in 2022, presenting their argument that low social mobility and perceived economic unfairness explain populist discontent more consistently than inequality alone. The authors compare the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, and France, then connect equal opportunity and fair rewards to policies intended to improve mobility. Summerville brought an international career in finance and academic work on political economy to the collaboration, while Protzer contributed the Growth Lab research underpinning the book. Reclaiming Populism therefore joins empirical analysis with a policy-focused account of how liberal democracies might answer legitimate economic grievances without accepting illiberal political remedies.