Populism

Not to be confused with Popolarismo.

"Populist" redirects here. For other uses, see Populist (disambiguation).

Populism is a contested concept, used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the common 'people' and often position this group in opposition to a perceived 'elite'. It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed in the late 19th century and has been applied to various politicians, parties and movements since that time, often as a pejorative. Within political science and other social sciences, several different definitions of populism have been employed, with some scholars proposing that the term be rejected altogether.

Etymology and terminology

The term "populism" has long been contested, subject to mistranslation and used to describe a broad and often contradictory array of movements and beliefs. It is frequently characterized as a stretched or overused concept, widely employed yet poorly understood in political discourse. Against this backdrop, numerous studies have examined the term’s usage and diffusion across media, politics, and academic scholarship—highlighting the reciprocal influence among these spheres and tracing the semantic shifts that have shaped the evolving meaning of the concept.

Origins and Early Political Uses

The word first appeared in English in 1858, used as an antonym for “aristocratic” in a translation of a work by Alphonse de Lamartine. In the Russian Empire of the 1860s and 1870s, the term was associated with the narodniki, a left-leaning agrarian movement whose name is often translated as “populists”. Russian populism in the late 19th century aimed to transfer political power to the peasant communes through a radical program of agrarian reform. In English, however, the term gained broader prominence through its use by the U.S.-based People's Party and its predecessors, active between the 1880s and early 1900s. The People's Party advocated support for small-scale farming through expansionist monetary policy and credit practices. Although both the Russian and American movements have been labeled "populist", they differed in their ideological content and historical trajectory.

In the early 20th century, particularly in France, the term shifted into the realm of literature, where it came to designate a genre of novel that sympathetically portrayed the lives of the lower classes. The term entered the Latin American political lexicon in the post-war period, becoming a defining feature of the region’s political landscape. It was initially associated in the media with charismatic leaders capable of mobilizing recently urbanized populations, particularly those displaced by rural migration. These new urban groups, increasingly integrated into electoral politics, were seen as escaping older systems of clientelist control such as “halter voting” (voto de cabresto or voto cantado) and began to redefine national political life. Although often viewed with suspicion and associated with manipulation or demagoguery, populism in this context frequently carried a positive connotation and was openly embraced by political actors.

Academic Adoption and Conceptual Drift

Until the 1950s, use of the term populism in academia remained restricted largely to historians studying the People's Party. In 1954, however, two pivotal publications marked a turning point in the conceptual development of the term. In the United States, sociologist Edward Shils published an article proposing populism as a term to describe anti-elite trends in US society more broadly. Simultaneously in Brazil, political scientist Hélio Jaguaribe, responding to the country’s emerging “populist hype” in the media, published what is considered the first academic text on Latin American populism, framing it as a form of class conciliation. Following Shils’ intervention, the 1960s saw populism gain increasing traction among US sociologists and other academics in the social sciences. A parallel trend unfolded in Latin America, where scholars—often influenced by Marxist frameworks—began to investigate populism as a political phenomenon tied to modernization, mass mobilization, and developmentalist ideologies. Despite the growing interest, scholarly consensus on the definition of populism remained elusive. Notably, a 1967 conference at the London School of Economics that brought together many of the era’s leading experts failed to produce a unified theoretical framework.

The convergence of new—and often contested—academic interpretations with the use of the term by political forces critical of those labeled as populists has contributed to its increasingly negative connotation. The absence of a coherent ideological platform or consistent programmatic formulation among self-proclaimed populists, combined with the lack of a coordinated international movement, has further enabled the term to vary widely in meaning. As a result, populism has come to be applied across a broad range of political contexts and figures, often without clear or consistent definition. The term has often been conflated with other concepts like demagoguery, and generally presented as something to be feared and discredited. It has often been applied as a catchword to movements that are considered to be outside the political mainstream or a threat to democracy.

The Populist Hype and Scholarly Debate

Following 2016—a year marked by the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States and the United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union, both widely associated with populist sentiment—the term populism surged to prominence in global political discourse. Reflecting this heightened attention, the Cambridge Dictionary selected "populism" as its Word of the Year in 2017.

This so-called "populist hype" also found its counterpart in academia. Whereas between 1950 and 1960 roughly 160 publications on populism were recorded, that number rose to over 1,500 between 1990 and 2000. From 2000 to 2015, an average of 95 academic papers and books annually included the term "populism" in their title or abstract as catalogued by Web of Science. In 2016, that number climbed to 266; in 2017, it reached 488; and by 2018, it had grown to 615.

The conceptual ambiguity surrounding the term—exacerbated by this spike in political and academic attention—has led some scholars to propose abandoning "populism" as an analytical category altogether. In particular, the frequent conflation of populism with far-right nativism has drawn criticism for misrepresenting the ethos of historical self-described populists, while also providing a euphemistic gloss for racist or authoritarian political actors seeking legitimacy by claiming to represent "the people."

In contrast, others argue that the concept remains too integral to political analysis to be discarded. If clearly defined, they contend, "populism" could be a valuable tool for understanding a broad range of political actors, especially those operating on the margins of mainstream politics.

Theories

As a polysemic concept, populism has been interpreted through various theoretical lenses and given multiple definitions. Today, the main theoretical approaches to populism are the ideational, class-based, discursive, performative, strategic and economic frameworks.

Ideational approaches

The ideational approach defines populism as a "thin-centred ideology" that divides society into two antagonistic groups: "the pure people" and "the corrupt elite," and sees politics as an expression of the general will (volonté générale) of the people. It positions populism not as a comprehensive ideology but one that attaches itself to broader political movements like nationalism, socialism, or conservatism. Scholars like Cas Mudde and Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser emphasize that populism is moralistic rather than programmatic, promoting a binary worldview that resists compromise. This ideology can be seen across diverse political systems and is used flexibly to justify different agendas on both the left and the right.

According to ideational scholars, populism constructs "the people" as a virtuous and unified group, often with vague or shifting boundaries, allowing populist leaders to define inclusion or exclusion based on strategic goals. This group is seen as sovereign and historically grounded, whose common sense is viewed as superior to elite expertise or institutional knowledge. Conversely, "the elite" is portrayed as a homogeneous, corrupt force undermining the people's will. Depending on context, elites may be defined economically, politically, culturally, or even ethnically. Populists frequently claim to represent the true interests of the people while bypassing or undermining liberal democratic institutions.

The concept of the general will is presented in the ideational approch as central to populist rhetoric, aligning with a critique of representative democracy in favor of direct forms of decision-making such as referendums. This approach resonates with Rousseau's philosophical legacy, suggesting that only "the people" know what is best for society. However, the ideational definition is not without criticism. Some argue it imposes rigid assumptions—such as moral dualism or homogeneity—that may not always apply in practice. Others caution that if broadly applied, the term risks becoming too vague, potentially encompassing most political discourse. Nonetheless, the ideational framework remains influential for its analytical clarity in distinguishing populism from elitism and pluralism.

Class-based approaches

Class-based approaches interpret populism as a phenomenon rooted in social class dynamics. In American sociology, Seymour Martin Lipset argued that populism is a movement that unites various social classes, typically around a charismatic leader. While noting that this characteristic also appears in fascism, Lipset emphasized a key distinction: fascism draws primarily from the middle classes, whereas populism finds its main social base among the poor.

A more explicitly class-oriented interpretation comes from the Marxist tradition, particularly influential in Latin America through thinkers such as Francisco Weffort and Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Breaking with the sympathetic stance toward Russian populism found in the late writings of Karl Marx, these Latin American Marxists drew instead on Marx’s reflections on Bonapartism and Antonio Gramsci's concept of Caesarism. From this perspective, populism arises in moments of equilibrium between antagonistic classes—when the bourgeoisie has lost its hegemonic capacity but the proletariat has not yet seized power. In such conditions, political power gains autonomy from dominant classes and positions itself as an arbiter, drawing support from what Marx termed the “mass”: a disorganized group lacking class consciousness and vulnerable to charismatic leadership.

Marxist critics in Latin America acknowledged populism’s role in integrating the popular masses into political life and fostering social and economic development. However, they argued that this integration was limited—proto-democratic in form but ultimately constrained within a bourgeois framework. Populist regimes, they contended, often demobilized collective organization by substituting social benefits and labor reforms for class struggle, while subordinating trade unions to state control and electoral interests. These critiques have been challenged by historians who argue that the so-called populist period in Latin American history was in fact marked by a growing politicization of workers—one that may have posed a challenge to established political and economic interests.

Discursive approaches

The Argentine political theorist Ernesto Laclau developed his own definition of populism. He regarded it as a potentially positive force for emancipatory change in society.

The discursive approach found its main exponent in the Argentine political theorist Ernesto Laclau. For Laclau, populism should be understood as a discursive logic in which a series of unmet demands coalesce around a symbol that names a popular movement in opposition to an elite. Although charismatic leaders are often the most common symbols of populist movements, the discursive approach maintains that populism can exist without this type of leadership.

Unlike the ideational approach, the discursive tradition does not necessarily view the opposition of the "bottom" against the "top" as moralistic. In contrast to the Marxist approach, it also criticizes what it sees as the idealization of an autonomous social class, as opposed to a manipulated mass. From a constructivist perspective, Laclau and his followers argue that political subjects—and particularly an entity such as "the people"—are always radically contingent discursive constructions, capable of taking on various forms.

Normatively, Laclau’s definition of populism refrains from judging whether populism is inherently positive or negative. However, it sets itself apart from previous approaches by regarding some populist experiences in power as genuinely democratizing.

Stylistic/socio-cultural approaches

The performative approach, also known as the socio-cultural approach, is sometimes presented as a branch of the discursive approach. Its main exponents include Pierre Ostiguy, Benjamin Moffitt, and María Esperanza Casullo. This approach views populism not as a fixed ideology but as a political style—a repertoire of symbolically mediated performances through which leaders construct and navigate power. Rather than focusing on what populists believe, this perspective highlights how they communicate and present themselves, encompassing rhetoric, gestures, body language, fashion, imagery, and staging. These aesthetic and performative elements are essential to how populism operates in practice.

Critiquing what it sees as excessive formalism in Laclau’s theory, the performative approach emphasizes the theatrical and transgressive nature of populism. Populist actors often break with traditional norms and expectations of political behavior, embracing styles that are irreverent, culturally popular, and emotionally charged. Populism is thus seen as a performance that challenges the boundaries of "respectable" political discourse.

While some scholars focus on the performances of charismatic leaders, others emphasize the historical and social dimension of populist transgression, noting its capacity to mobilize marginalized sectors traditionally excluded from political life. The sudden entry of these groups into the public sphere is often experienced as disruptive or shocking.

As with the discursive approach, advocates of the performative theory maintain that populism can, in some cases, express emancipatory potential.

Strategic approaches

An additional framework has been described as the "political-strategic" approach. This applies the term populism to a political strategy in which a charismatic leader seeks to govern based on direct and unmediated connection with their followers. Kurt Weyland defined this conception of populism as "a political strategy through which a personalist leader seeks or exercises government power based on direct, unmediated, uninstitutionalized support from large numbers of mostly unorganized followers". This is a definition of the term that is popular among scholars of non-Western societies. By focusing on leadership, this concept of populism does not allow for the existence of populist parties or populist social movements; under this definition, for instance, the US People's Party which first invented the term populism could not be considered populist. Mudde suggested that although the idea of a leader having direct access to "the people" was a common element among populists, it is best regarded as a feature which facilitates rather than defines populism.

In popular discourse, populism is sometimes used pejoratively to describe political approaches that promote extremely simple solutions to complex problems in a highly emotional manner. While this usage may seem intuitively meaningful, some argue that it is difficult to apply empirically, since most political actors engage in slogans and rhetoric, and distinguishing between emotionally charged and rational arguments can be problematic. This phenomenon is more accurately described as demagogy. Another common usage of the term refers to opportunistic policymaking—measures designed to quickly appeal to voters rather than following a reasoned or sustainable course of action. Typical examples include lowering taxes shortly before an election or making promises that exceed what the state can realistically deliver. According to critics, however, this too is more appropriately classified as opportunism.

Economic approaches

The socioeconomic definition of populism refers to a pattern of irresponsible economic policymaking, in which governments implement expansive public spending—typically financed by foreign loans—followed by inflationary crises and subsequent austerity measures. This understanding gained prominence in the 1980s and 1990s through economists such as Rudiger Dornbusch, Jeffrey Sachs, and Sebastian Edwards, particularly in studies of Latin American economies. It builds on earlier critiques by Argentine economist Marcelo Diamand, who argued that economies like Argentina experienced cyclical swings between unsustainable populist spending and excessive austerity. Although Diamand critiqued both extremes, later U.S.-based economists largely abandoned his condemnation of austerity, instead framing it as a necessary corrective for economic instability.

While still invoked by some economists and journalists—particularly in Latin America—this economic definition of populism remains relatively uncommon in the broader social sciences. Critics argue that it reduces populism to left-wing economic mismanagement, overlooks the term’s political and ideological dimensions, and fails to account for populist leaders who implemented neoliberal policies. The term "populism" is often used in this context to stigmatize heterodox economic policies, thereby narrowing space for debate.

Demand-side factors

One area of debate in explaining populism is whether its main cause is based in the needs of citizens (demand-side explanations) or in the failures of governments (supply-side explanations). In focusing on the changing grievances or demands of citizens, demand-side explanations can be seen as bottom-up explanations, while supply-side explanations, in focusing on political actors and institutions, can be seen as top-down explanations. Various demand-side factors have been claimed to make it more likely that individuals will support populist ideas. Economists and political economists often emphasize the importance of economic concerns while political scientists and sociologists often emphasize sociocultural concerns in their analysis of demand-side factors.

Economic grievance

The economic grievance thesis argues that economic factors, such as deindustrialisation, economic liberalisation, and deregulation, are causing the formation of a 'left-behind' precariat with low job security, high inequality, and wage stagnation, who then support populism. Some theories only focus on the effect of economic crises, or inequality. Another objection for economic reasons is due to the globalization that is taking place in the world today. In addition to criticism of the widening inequality caused by the elite, the widening inequality among the general public caused by the influx of immigrants and other factors due to globalization is also a target of populist criticism.

The evidence of increasing economic disparity and volatility of family incomes is clear, particularly in the United States, as shown by the work of Thomas Piketty and others. Commentators such as Martin Wolf emphasize the importance of economics. They warn that such trends increase resentment and make people susceptible to populist rhetoric. Evidence for this is mixed. At the macro level, political scientists report that xenophobia, anti-immigrant ideas, and resentment towards out-groups tend to be higher during difficult economic times. Economic crises have been associated with gains by far-right political parties. However, there is little evidence at the micro- or individual level to link individual economic grievances and populist support. Populist politicians tend to put pressure on central bank independence.

Modernisation

The modernisation losers theory argues that certain aspects of transition to modernity have caused demand for populism. Some arguments rely on the belief that anomie has followed industrialisation and resulted in "dissolution, fragmentation and differentiation", weakening the traditional ties of civil society, and increasing individualization. Populism offers a broad identity which gives sovereignty to the previously marginalized masses as "the people". However, empirical studies suggest that supporters of radical right-wing populism occur across the social spectrum, and are not more likely to appear in groups defined as "modernisation losers".

Cultural backlash

Other theories argue that grievances have a primarily sociocultural rather than an economic basis. For example, the cultural backlash thesis argues that right-wing populism is reaction to the rise of postmaterialism in many developed countries, including the spread of feminism, multiculturalism, and environmentalism. According to this view, the spread of ideas and values through a society challenges accepted norms until society reaches a 'tipping point', which causes a reaction, in this case support for right-wing populism. Some theories limit this argument to being a reaction to just the increase of ethnic diversity from immigration. Such theories are particularly popular with sociologists and with political scientists studying industrial world and American politics.

The empiric studies testing this theory have produced highly contradicting results. At the micro- or individual level, there are strong connections between individual positions on sociocultural issues (such as immigration policy and "racial animus") and right-wing populist voting. However, at the macro level, studies have not shown clear relationships between measures of populist sentiment in countries and actual right-wing party support.

However, there is strong evidence from political scientists and political psychologists documenting the influence of group-based identity threats on voters. Those who identify as part of a group and perceive it as being under threat are likely to support political actors who promise to protect the status and identity of their group. While such research often focuses on white identity, results apply broadly to other social groups that perceive themselves to be under threat.

Recent democratization

The length of time since a country has been democratized has also been linked to its potential for populist success. This is claimed to be because younger democracies have less established political parties and weaker liberal democratic norms. For example, populist success in Eastern Europe has been linked to the legacy of communism. However, this explanation suffers from the lack of success of populism in most post-communist countries.

Supply-side factors

Supply-side explanations focus on political actors and institutions and the ways in which governments may fail to respond to the changing conditions that affect citizens. Economic, social, and other structural trends are seen as being modified by institutions as they determine political outcomes. In this view, citizens turn to populism when governments do not respond effectively to the challenges they and their citizens face. Research supports the idea that populism is more likely to thrive when mainstream parties on the center-left and center-right do not address important contemporary issues and do not offer clear alternatives to voters. Coalitions that blur distinctions on positions are also likely to increase populism.

Economic and/or social changes alone are not problems—they only cause citizens to become angry, resentful, and susceptible to the appeal of populists if established mainstream politicians, parties, and governments fail to recognize and respond to them.

Sheri Berman

In Political Order in Changing Societies (1968), Samuel P. Huntington argues that rapid change (social or economic) in a society will increase the demands of its citizens. Unless political institutions are responsive and effective, they are unlikely to respond to and satisfy such demands. If political systems are weak or have become unresponsive over time, then dissatisfaction, political disorder and even violence become more likely. Political institutions that do not respond to social and economic changes are likely to fail. Responsive political systems can adapt to more severe challenges than unresponsive ones. Huntington's ideas grew out of work on Third World countries, but are also applicable to advanced industrial countries.

In a supply-side view of American politics, populism can be seen as a symptom of institutional decay. It can be suggested that political factors such as gerrymandering, the Electoral College, special-interest lobbying and dark money, are distorting political and economic debate, and decreasing the ability of the government to respond to the concerns of large numbers of citizens. This in turn generates dissatisfaction, which may increase the likelihood that citizens will support populism. Scholars studying the European Union have suggested that European integration may have had the undesired effect of decreasing the system's responsiveness to voters, as law and policy-making increasingly became the responsibility of the European Union. This too may have increased support for populism. Institutions such as the European Central Bank may also distance decision-making from electoral power. It has been argued that political parties themselves have become disconnected from society, and unable to respond to citizen's concerns.

Mobilisation

There are three forms of political mobilisation which populists have adopted: that of the populist leader, the populist political party, and the populist social movement. The reasons why voters are attracted to populists differ, but common catalysts for the rise of populists include dramatic economic decline or a systematic corruption scandal that damages established political parties. For instance, the Great Recession of 2007 and its impact on the economies of southern Europe was a catalyst for the rise of Syriza in Greece and Podemos in Spain, while the Mani pulite corruption scandal of the early 1990s played a significant part in the rise of the Italian populist Silvio Berlusconi.

Another catalyst for the growth of populism is a widespread perception among voters that the political system is unresponsive to them. This can arise when elected governments introduce policies that are unpopular with their voters but which are implemented because they are considered to be "responsible" or imposed by supranational organisations. In Latin America, for example, many countries passed unpopular economic reforms under pressure from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank while in Europe, many countries in the European Union were pushed to implement unpopular economic austerity measures by the union's authorities. Decentralisation of political power is a very useful tool for populists to use to their benefit, this is because it allows them to speak more directly to the people of whom they seek to gain attention and votes.

Leaders

See also: Demagogue

Populism is often associated with charismatic and dominant leaders, and the populist leader is, according to Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser, "the quintessential form of populist mobilization". These individuals campaign and attract support on the basis of their own personal appeal. Their supporters then develop a perceived personal connection with the leader. For these leaders, populist rhetoric allows them to claim that they have a direct relationship with "the people", and in many cases they claim to be a personification of "the people" themselves, presenting themselves as the vox populi or "voice of the people". Hugo Chávez for instance stated: "I demand absolute loyalty to me. I am not an individual, I am the people." Populist leaders can also present themselves as the saviour of the people because of their perceived unique talents and vision, and in doing so can claim to be making personal sacrifices for the good of the people. Because loyalty to the populist leader is thus seen as representing loyalty to the people, those who oppose the leader can be branded "enemies of the people".

The overwhelming majority of populist leaders have been men, although there have been various females occupying this role. Most of these female populist leaders gained positions of seniority through their connections to previously dominant men; Eva Perón was the wife of Juan Perón, Marine Le Pen the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, Keiko Fujimori the daughter of Alberto Fujimori, and Yingluck Shinawatra the sister of Thaksin Shinawatra.

Rhetorical styles

Populist leaders often play on gendered stereotypes. US-based Sarah Palin portrayed a maternal image as a "mama grizzly"; Italy's Silvio Berlusconi boasted of his sexual virility.

Canovan noted that populists often used "colourful and undiplomatic language" to distinguish themselves from the governing elite. In Africa, several populist leaders have distinguished themselves by speaking in indigenous languages rather than either French or English. Populist leaders often present themselves as people of action rather than people of words, talking of the need for "bold action" and "common sense solutions" to issues which they call "crises". Male populist leaders often express themselves using simple and sometimes vulgar language in an attempt to present themselves as "the common man" or "one of the boys" to add to their populist appeal.

An example of this is Umberto Bossi, the leader of the right-wing populist Italian Lega Nord, who at rallies would state "the League has a hard-on" while putting his middle-finger up as a sign of disrespect to the government in Rome. Another recurring feature of male populist leaders is the emphasis that they place on their own virility. An example of this is the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who bragged about his bunga bunga sex parties and his ability to seduce young women. Among female populist leaders, it is more common for them to emphasise their role as a wife and mother. The US right-wing populist Sarah Palin for instance referred to herself as a "hockey mom" and a "mama grizzly", while Australian right-wing populist Pauline Hanson stated that "I care so passionately about this country, it's like I'm its mother. Australia is my home and the Australian people are my children."

Populist leaders typically portray themselves as outsiders who are separate from the "elite". Female populist leaders sometimes reference their gender as setting them apart from the dominant "old boys' club", while in Latin America a number of populists, such as Evo Morales and Alberto Fujimori, emphasised their non-white ethnic background to set them apart from the white-dominated elite. Other populists have used clothing to set them apart. In South Africa, the populist Julius Malema and members of his Economic Freedom Fighters attended parliament dressed as miners and workers to distinguish themselves from the other politicians wearing suits. In instances where wealthy business figures promote populist sentiments, such as Ross Perot, Thaksin Shinawatra, or Berlusconi, it can be difficult to present themselves as being outside the elite, however this is achieved by portraying themselves as being apart from the political, if not the economic elite, and portraying themselves as reluctant politicians. Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser noted that "in reality, most populist leaders are very much part of the national elite", typically being highly educated, upper-middle class, middle-aged males from the majority ethnicity.

Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser suggested that "true outsiders" to the political system are rare, although cited instances like Venezuela's Chávez and Peru's Fujimori. More common is that they are "insider-outsiders", strongly connected to the inner circles of government but not having ever been part of it. The Dutch right-wing populist Geert Wilders had for example been a prominent back-bench MP for many years before launching his populist Party for Freedom, while in South Africa, Malema had been leader of the governing African National Congress (ANC) youth league until he was expelled, at which he launched his own populist movement. Only a few populist leaders are "insiders", individuals who have held leading roles in government prior to portraying themselves as populists. One example is Thaksin Shinawatra, who was twice deputy prime minister of Thailand before launching his own populist political party; another is Rafael Correa, who served as the Ecuadorean finance minister before launching a left-wing populist challenge.

Some populist leaders give their name to wider populist political movements; examples include the Peronism of Juan Perón or the Fortuynism of Pim Fortuyn.

Populist leaders are sometimes also characterised as strongmen or—in Latin American countries—as caudillos. In a number of cases, such as Argentina's Perón or Venezuela's Chávez, these leaders have military backgrounds which contribute to their strongman image. Other populist leaders have also evoked the strongman image without having a military background; these include Italy's Berlusconi, Slovakia's Mečiar, and Thailand's Thaksin Shinawatra. Populism and strongmen are not intrinsically connected, however; as stressed by Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser, "only a minority of strongmen are populists and only a minority of populists is a strongman". Rather than being populists, many strongmen—such as Spain's Francisco Franco—were elitists who led authoritarian administrations.

In most cases, these populist leaders built a political organisation around themselves, typically a political party, although in many instances these remain dominated by the leader. These individuals often give a populist movement its political identity, as is seen with movements like Fortuynism in the Netherlands, Peronism in Argentina, Berlusconism in Italy and Chavismo in Venezuela. Populist mobilisation is not however always linked to a charismatic leadership. Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser suggested that populist personalist leadership was more common in countries with a presidential system rather than a parliamentary one because these allow for the election of a single individual to the role of head of government without the need for an accompanying party. Examples where a populist leader has been elected to the presidency without an accompanying political party have included Peron in Argentina, Fujimori in Peru, and Correa in Ecuador.

Media

Further information on the role of the mass media in the emergence of populism: Mediatization (media)

A subset of populism which deals with the use of media by politicians is called "media populism".

Populist leaders often use the media in order to mobilize their support. In Latin America, there is a long tradition of using mass media as a way for charismatic leaders to directly communicate with the poorly educated masses, first by radio and then by television. The former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez had a weekly show called Aló Presidente, which according to historian Enrique Krauze gave some Venezuelans "at least the appearance of contact with power, through his verbal and visual presence, which may be welcomed by people who have spent most of their lives being ignored."

The media has also been argued to have helped populists in countries of other regions by giving exposure to the most controversial politicians for commercial reasons. Donald Trump was claimed to have received $5 billion worth of free coverage during his 2016 campaign. Tabloids are often stereotyped as presenting a platform for populist politics due to their tendency toward melodrama, infotainment, and conflict, and thus provide support for populist parties. Examples of this have been the support given by Kronen Zeitung to the Austrian Freedom Party and the Berlusconi-owned presses' support for Italy's National Alliance in the mid-1990s. Based on his analysis of Dutch and British media, Tjitske Akkerman however argued that tabloids were no more prone to populism than the quality press.

In the 21st century, populists have increasingly used social media to bypass the mainstream media and directly approach their target audiences. In earlier periods, before radio, thought "mass media" newspapers tended to operate more like social media than modern newspapers, publishing local gossip and with little fact-checking; the expansion of newspapers to rural areas of the United States in the early twentieth century increased support for populist parties and positions. It has been claimed that while traditional media, acting as so-called 'gatekeepers', filter the messages that they broadcast through journalistic norms, social media permits a 'direct linkage' from political actors to potential audiences. It has been claimed that the use of Twitter helped Donald Trump win the US presidency, while the same has been claimed regarding the use of YouTube by the Jair Bolsonaro 2018 presidential campaign.

Electoral systems

Political systems with low political efficacy or high wasted votes can contribute to populism. Populist leaders have been claimed to be more successful in presidential systems. This is because such systems give advantage to charismatic populist leaders, especially when institutionalized parties are weak. This is especially the case in two-round systems, because outsiders who might not win most votes in the first round of voting might be able to do so when faced against a mainstream candidate in the second round. This has been claimed to be evident in the 1990 Peruvian general election won by Alberto Fujimori, who lost on the first round. Furthermore, Juan José Linz has argued that the direct relationship between the president and the electorate fosters a populist perception of the president as representing the whole people and their opponents as resisting the popular will.

Political parties

A 2012 rally by members of the left-wing populist United Socialist Party of Venezuela in Maracaibo

Another form of mobilisation is through populist political parties. Populists are not generally opposed to political representation, but merely want their own representatives, those of "the people", in power. In various cases, non-populist political parties have transitioned into populist ones; the elitist Socialist Unity Party of Germany, a Marxist–Leninist group which governed East Germany, later transitioned after German re-unification into a populist party, The Left. In other instances, such as the Austrian FPÖ and Swiss SVP, a non-populist party can have a populist faction which later takes control of the whole party.

In some examples where a political party has been dominated by a single charismatic leader, the latter's death has served to unite and strengthen the party, as with Argentina's Justicialist Party after Juan Perón's death in 1974, or the United Socialist Party of Venezuela after Chávez's death in 2013. In other cases, a populist party has seen one strong centralising leader replace another, as when Marine Le Pen replaced her father Jean-Marie as the leader of the National Front in 2011, or when Heinz-Christian Strache took over from Haider as chair of the Freedom Party of Austria in 2005.

Many populist parties achieve an electoral breakthrough but then fail to gain electoral persistence, with their success fading away at subsequent elections. In various cases, they are able to secure regional strongholds of support but with little support elsewhere in the country; the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) for instance gained national representation in the Austrian parliament solely because of its strong support in Carinthia. Similarly, the Belgian Vlaams Belang party has its stronghold in Antwerp, while the Swiss People's Party has its stronghold in Zürich.

Social movements

"Hear the wrath of the people", a member of the Indignados, a Spanish left-wing populist movement, in Puerta del Sol, 2011

An additional form is that of the populist social movement. Populist social movements are comparatively rare, as most social movements focus on a more restricted social identity or issue rather than identifying with "the people" more broadly. However, after the Great Recession of 2007 a number of populist social movements emerged, expressing public frustrations with national and international economic systems. These included the Occupy movement, which originated in the US and used the slogan "We are the 99%", and the Spanish Indignados movement, which employed the motto: "real democracy now—we are not goods in the hands of politicians and bankers".

Few populist social movements survive for more than a few years, with most examples, like the Occupy movement, petering out after their initial growth. In some cases, the social movement fades away as a strong leader emerges from within it and moves into electoral politics. An example of this can be seen with the India Against Corruption social movement, from which emerged Arvind Kejriwal, who founded the Aam Aadmi Party ("Common Man Party"). Another is the Spanish Indignados movement which appeared in 2011 before spawning the Podemos party led by Pablo Iglesias Turrión. These populist social movements can exert a broader societal impact which results in populist politicians emerging to prominence; the Tea Party and Occupy movements that appeared in the US during the late 2000s and early 2010s have been seen as an influence on the rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders as prominent figures in the mid-2010s.

Some populist leaders have sought to broaden their support by creating supporter groups within the country. Chavez, for instance, ordered the formation of Bolivarian Circles, Communal Councils, Urban Land Committees, and Technical Water Roundtables across Venezuela. These could improve political participation among poorer sectors of Venezuelan society, although also served as networks through which the state transferred resources to those neighbourhoods which produced high rates of support for Chavez government.

Other themes

Democracy

Populism is a flexible term as it can be seen to exist in both democracies as well as authoritarian regimes. There have been intense debates about the relationship between populism and democracy. Some regard populism as being an intrinsic danger to democracy; others regard it as the only "true" form of democracy. Populists often present themselves as "true democrats". It could be argued that populism is democratic as it allows voters to remove governments they do not approve via the ballot box because voting is an essential value for a state to be considered a democracy. Albertazzi and McDonnell stated that populism and democracy were "inextricably linked", the political scientist Manuel Anselmi described populism as being "deeply connected with democracy", and March suggested that populism represented a "critique of democracy, not an alternative to it". Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser write that "In a world that is dominated by democracy and liberalism, populism has essentially become an illiberal democratic response to undemocratic liberalism." Adamidis argues that the effect of populism on democracy can be measured by reference to its impact on the democratic legal systems and, in particular, to the changes it effects on their rule of recognition.

Populism can serve as a democratic corrective by contributing to the mobilisation of social groups who feel excluded from political decision making. It can also raise awareness among the socio-political elites of popular concerns in society, even if it makes the former uncomfortable. When some populists have taken power—most notably, Chávez in Venezuela—they have enhanced the use of direct democracy through the regular application of referendums. For this reason, some democratic politicians have argued that they need to become more populist: René Cuperus of the Dutch Labour Party for instance called for social democracy to become "more 'populist' in a leftist way" in order to engage with voters who felt left behind by cultural and technological change.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been cited as a populist leader who has undermined liberal democracy upon taking power.

Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser argued that "populism is essentially democratic, but at odds with liberal democracy," since populism is based on putting into effect "the will of the people". It is therefore majoritarian in nature, and opposed to the safeguarding of minority rights, which is a defining feature of liberal democracy. Populism also undermines the tenets of liberal democracy by rejecting notions of pluralism and the idea that anything, including constitutional limits, should constrain the "general will" of "the people". In this, populist governance can lead to what the liberal philosopher John Stuart Mill described as the "tyranny of the majority".

Populists tend to view democratic institutions as alienating, and in practice, populists operating in liberal democracies have often criticised the independent institutions designed to protect the fundamental rights of minorities, particularly the judiciary and the media. Berlusconi for instance criticised the Italian judiciary for defending the rights of communists. In countries like Hungary, Ecuador, and Venezuela, populist governments have curtailed the independent media. Minorities have often suffered as a result. In Europe in particular, ethnic minorities have had their rights undermined by populism, while in Latin America it is political opposition groups who have been undermined by populist governments.

In several instances—such as Orbán in Hungary—the populist leader has set the country on a path of de-democratisation by changing the constitution to centralise increasing levels of power in the head of government. A December 2018 study of 46 populist leaders argued that populists, regardless of their position on the political spectrum, were more likely to damage democratic institutions, erode checks and balances on the executive branch, cause democratic backsliding and attack individual rights than non-populists. In contrast, an analysis of the V-Party Dataset demonstrates moderate levels of populism are not necessarily antidemocratic, only high levels of populism are related to higher autocratization.

Even when not elected into office, populist parties can have an impact in shaping the national political agenda; in Western Europe, parties like the French National Front and Danish People's Party did not generally get more than 10 or 20% of the national vote, but mainstream parties shifted their own policies to meet the populist challenge.

Mainstream responses

Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser suggested that to deflate the appeal of populism, those government figures found guilty of corruption need to be seen to face adequate punishment. They also argued that stronger rule of law and the elimination of systemic corruption were also important facets in preventing populist growth. They believed that mainstream politicians wishing to reduce the populist challenge should be more open about the restrictions of their power, noting that those who backed populist movements were often frustrated with the dishonesty of established politicians who "claim full agency when things go well and almost full lack of agency when things go wrong". They also suggested that the appeal of populism could be reduced by wider civic education in the values of liberal democracy and the relevance of pluralism.

What Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser believed was ineffective was a full-frontal attack on the populists which presented "them" as "evil" or "foolish", for this strategy plays into the binary division that populists themselves employ. In their view, "the best way to deal with populism is to engage—as difficult as it is—in an open dialogue with populist actors and supporters" in order to "better understand the claims and grievances of the populist elites and masses and to develop liberal democratic responses to them".

In trying to win over populist supporters, and perhaps even some elites, liberal democrats should avoid both simplistic solutions that pander to "the people" and elitist discourses that dismiss the moral and intellectual competence of ordinary citizens – both will only strengthen the populists. Most importantly, given that populism often asks the right questions but provides the wrong answers, the ultimate goal should be not just the destruction of populist supply, but also the weakening of populist demand. Only the latter will actually strengthen liberal democracy.

Political scientists Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser

Mainstream politicians have sometimes sought to co-operate or build alliances with populists. In the United States, for example, various Republican Party figures aligned themselves with the Tea Party movement, while in countries such as Finland and Austria populist parties have taken part in governing coalitions. In other instances, mainstream politicians have adopted elements of a populist political style while competing against populist opponents. Various mainstream centrist figures, such as Hillary Clinton and Tony Blair, have argued that governments needed to restrict migration to hinder the appeal of right-wing populists utilising anti-immigrant sentiment in elections.

A more common approach has been for mainstream parties to openly attack the populists and construct a cordon sanitaire to prevent them from gaining political office. Once populists are in political office in liberal democracies, the judiciary can play a key role in blocking some of their more illiberal policies, as has been the case in Slovakia and Poland. The mainstream media can play an important role in blocking populist growth; in a country like Germany, the mainstream media is for instant resolutely anti-populist, opposing populist groups whether left or right. Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser noted that there was an "odd love-hate relationship between populist media and politicians, sharing a discourse but not a struggle".

In certain countries, certain mainstream media outlets have supported populist groups; in Austria, the Kronen Zeitung played a prominent role in endorsing Haider, in the United Kingdom the Daily Express supported the UK Independence Party, while in the United States, Fox News gave much positive coverage and encouragement to the Tea Party movement. In some cases, when the populists have taken power, their political rivals have sought to violently overthrow them; this was seen in the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt, when mainstream groups worked with sectors of the military to unseat Hugo Chávez's government.

Another discursive strategy of mainstream parties dealing with populist actors is demonization. However, Schwörer and Fernández-García found that this practice is less common in Western Europe as usually assumed and that the center-right even refuses to harshly attack the populist radical right. In a similar vein, mainstream parties use the term "populism" to delegitimize populist actors due to its negative connotation among the public but also use the term to attack non-populist competitors.

Authoritarianism

Scholars have argued that populist elements have sometimes appeared in authoritarian movements. Some, but not all, populists are authoritarian, with many (especially right-wing populists) emphasizing "the importance of protecting traditional lifestyles against perceived threats from 'outsiders', even at the expense of civil liberties and minority rights." In states with a weak legacy of rule of law, populists are most likely to succeed at dismantling institutional constraints on their rule.

Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg, 1936

The historian Roger Eatwell noted that "major ideological differences ... lie at the core" of fascism and populism, the former being anti-democratic and latter being rooted in democracy, "albeit not liberal democracy". However, he says that fascist politicians have "borrowed aspects of populist discourse and style". Some fascists have for instance used the terms "people" and "nation" synonymously. The historian Peter Fritzsche argued that populist movements active in Weimar Germany helped to facilitate the environment in which the fascist Nazi Party could rise to power, and that the Nazis utilised, "at least rhetorically", the "populist ideal of the people's community". The scholar Luke March argued that the populist Narodnik movement of late 19th-century Russia influenced the radical rejection on the constitutional limits of the state found in Marxism–Leninism. Although the Marxist–Leninist movement often used populist rhetoric—in the 1960s, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union called itself the "party of the Soviet people"—in practice its emphasis on an elite vanguard is anti-populist in basis.

In recent history, a 2018 analysis by political scientists Yascha Mounk and Jordan Kyle links populism to democratic backsliding, showing that since 1990, five out of 13 elected right-wing populist governments and five out of 15 elected left-wing populist governments brought about significant democratic backsliding. From the left, the pink tide spreading over Latin America was "prone to populism and authoritarianism". Correa in Ecuador and Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and his regional allies used populism to achieve their dominance and later established authoritarian regimes when they were empowered. Such actions, Weyland argues, proves that populism is a strategy for winning and exerting state power and stands in tension with democracy and the values of pluralism, open debate, and fair competition.

In 2019, Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart classified over 50 European political parties as "authoritarian-populist" as well as world leaders like Donald Trump, Silvio Berlusconi, Viktor Orbán, Hugo Chávez, Nicolás Maduro, Jair Bolsonaro, Narendra Modi, and Rodrigo Duterte. They described the combination of authoritarian values disguised in populist rhetoric as perhaps the most dangerous threat to liberal democracy. They also argue that authoritarian-populism provides a more powerful analytical lens than conventional labels like right-wing populism.

History

Although the term "populist" can be traced back to populares (courting the people) Senators in Ancient Rome, the first political movements emerged during the late nineteenth century. However, some of the movements that have been portrayed as progenitors of modern populism did not develop a truly populist ideology. It was only with the coming of Boulangism in France and the American People's Party, which was also known as the Populist Party, that the foundational forms of populism can fully be discerned. In particular, it was during this era that terms such as "people" and "popular sovereignty" became a major part of the vocabulary of insurgent political movements that courted mass support among an expanding electorate by claiming that they uniquely embodied their interests[.]

Political historian Roger Eatwell

Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser argue that populism is a modern phenomenon. However, attempts have been made to identify manifestations of populism in the democracy of classical Athens. Eatwell noted that although the actual term populism parallels that of the Populares who were active in the Roman Republic, these and other pre-modern groups "did not develop a truly populist ideology." The origins of populism are often traced to the late nineteenth century, when movements calling themselves populist arose in both the United States and the Russian Empire. Populism has often been linked to the spread of democracy, both as an idea and as a framework for governance.

Conversely, the historian Barry S. Strauss argued that populism could also be seen in the ancient world, citing the examples of the fifth-century B.C. Athens and Populares, a political faction active in the Roman Republic from the second century BCE. The historian Rachel Foxley argued that the Levellers of 17th-century England could also be labelled "populists", meaning that they believed "equal natural rights ... must shape political life" while the historian Peter Blickle linked populism to the Protestant Reformation.

Europe

Main article: Populism in Europe

19th and 20th centuries

In the Russian Empire during the late 19th century, the narodnichestvo movement emerged, championing the cause of the empire's peasantry against the governing elites. The movement was unable to secure its objectives; however, it inspired other agrarian movements across eastern Europe in the early 20th century. Although the Russian movement was primarily a movement of the middle class and intellectuals "going to the people", in some respects their agrarian populism was similar to that of the US People's Party, with both presenting small farmers (the peasantry in Europe) as the foundation of society and main source of societal morality. According to Eatwell, the narodniks "are often seen as the first populist movement".

Ilya Repin's painting, Arrest of a Propagandist (1892), which depicts the arrest of a narodnik

In German-speaking Europe, the völkisch movement has often been characterised as populist, with its exultation of the German people and its anti-elitist attacks on capitalism and Jews. In France, the Boulangist movement also utilised populist rhetoric and themes. In the early 20th century, adherents of both Marxism and fascism flirted with populism, but both movements remained ultimately elitist, emphasising the idea of a small elite who should guide and govern society. Among Marxists, the emphasis on class struggle and the idea that the working classes are affected by false consciousness are also antithetical to populist ideas.

After 1945 populism was largely absent from Europe, in part due to the domination of Marxism–Leninism in Eastern Europe and a desire to emphasise moderation among many West European political parties. However, over the coming decades, a number of right-wing populist parties emerged throughout the continent. These were largely isolated and mostly reflected a conservative agricultural backlash against the centralisation and politicisation of the agricultural sector then occurring. These included Guglielmo Giannini's Common Man's Front in 1940s Italy, Pierre Poujade's Union for the Defense of Tradesmen and Artisans in late 1950s France, Hendrik Koekoek's Farmers' Party of the 1960s Netherlands, and Mogens Glistrup's Progress Party of 1970s Denmark. Between the late 1960s and the early 1980s there also came a concerted populist critique of society from Europe's New Left, including from the new social movements and from the early Green parties. However it was only in the late 1990s, according to Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser, that populism became "a relevant political force in Europe", one which could have a significant impact on mainstream politics.

Following the fall of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc of the early 1990s, there was a rise in populism across much of Central and Eastern Europe. In the first multiparty elections in many of these countries, various parties portrayed themselves as representatives of "the people" against the "elite", representing the old governing Marxist–Leninist parties. The Czech Civic Forum party for instance campaigned on the slogan "Parties are for party members, Civic Forum is for everybody". Many populists in this region claimed that a "real" revolution had not occurred during the transition from Marxist–Leninist to liberal democratic governance in the early 1990s and that it was they who were campaigning for such a change.

The collapse of Marxism–Leninism as a central force in socialist politics also led to a broader growth of left-wing populism across Europe, reflected in groups like the Dutch Socialist Party, Scottish Socialist Party, and German's The Left party. Since the late 1980s, populist experiences emerged in Spain around the figures of José María Ruiz Mateos, Jesús Gil and Mario Conde, businessmen who entered politics chiefly to defend their personal economic interests, but by the turn of the millennium their proposals had proved to meet a limited support at the ballots at the national level.

21st century

European national parliaments with representatives from right-wing populist parties in July 2023:
 Right-wing populists represented in the parliament
 Right-wing populists providing external support for government
 Right-wing populists involved in the government
 Right-wing populists appoint prime minister/president

Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder and leader of the French National Front, the "prototypical radical right party" which used populism to advance its cause

At the turn of the 21st century, populist rhetoric and movements became increasingly apparent in Western Europe. Populist rhetoric was often used by opposition parties. For example, in the 2001 electoral campaign, the Conservative Party leader William Hague accused Tony Blair's governing Labour Party government of representing "the condescending liberal elite". Hague repeatedly referring to it as "metropolitan", implying that it was out of touch with "the people", who in Conservative discourse are represented by "Middle England". Blair's government also employed populist rhetoric; in outlining legislation to curtail fox hunting on animal welfare grounds, it presented itself as championing the desires of the majority against the upper-classes who engaged in the sport. Blair's rhetoric has been characterised as the adoption of a populist style rather than the expression of an underlying populist ideology.

By the 21st century, European populism was again associated largely with the political right. The term came to be used in reference both to radical right groups like Jörg Haider's FPÖ in Austria and Jean-Marie Le Pen's FN in France, as well as to non-radical right-wing groups like Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia or Pim Fortuyn's LPF in the Netherlands. The populist radical right combined populism with authoritarianism and nativism.

Conversely, the Great Recession also resulted in the emergence of left-wing populist groups in parts of Europe, most notably the Syriza party which gained political office in Greece and the Podemos party in Spain, displaying similarities with the US-based Occupy movement. Like Europe's right-wing populists, these groups also expressed Eurosceptic sentiment towards the European Union, albeit largely from a socialist and anti-austerity perspective rather than the nationalist perspective adopted by their right-wing counterparts. Populists have entered government in many countries across Europe, both in coalitions with other parties as well by themselves, Austria and Poland are examples of these respectively.

The UK Labour Party under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn has been called populist, with the slogan "for the many not the few" having been used.

After the 2016 UK referendum on membership of the European Union, in which British citizens voted to leave, some have claimed the "Brexit" as a victory for populism, encouraging a flurry of calls for referendums among other EU countries by populist political parties.

North America

Main articles: Populism in the United States and Populism in Canada

The 2016 presidential election saw a wave of populist sentiment in the campaigns of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, with both candidates running on anti-establishment platforms in the Democratic and Republican parties, respectively.

In North America, populism has often been characterised by regional mobilisation and loose organisation. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, populist sentiments became widespread, particularly in the western provinces of Canada, and in the southwest and Great Plains regions of the United States. In this instance, populism was combined with agrarianism and often known as "prairie populism". For these groups, "the people" were yeomen—small, independent farmers—while the "elite" were the bankers and politicians of the northeast. In some cases, populist activists called for alliances with labor (the first national platform of the National People's Party in 1892 calling for protecting the rights of "urban workmen". In the state of Georgia in the early 1890s, Thomas E. Watson led a major effort to unite poor white farmers, and included some African-American farmers.

The People's Party of the late 19th century United States is considered to be "one of the defining populist movements"; its members were often referred to as the Populists at the time. Its radical platform included calling for the nationalisation of railways, the banning of strikebreakers, and the introduction of referendums. The party gained representation in several state legislatures during the 1890s, but was not powerful enough to mount a successful presidential challenge. In the 1896 presidential election, the People's Party supported the Democratic Party candidate William Jennings Bryan; after his defeat, the People's Party's support plunged.

Other early populist political parties in the United States included the Greenback Party, the Progressive Party of 1924 led by Robert M. La Follette, Sr., and the Share Our Wealth movement of Huey P. Long in 1933–1935. In Canada, populist groups adhering to a social credit ideology had various successes at local and regional elections from the 1930s to the 1960s, although the main Social Credit Party of Canada never became a dominant national force.

By the mid-20th century, US populism had moved from a largely progressive to a largely reactionary stance, being closely intertwined with the anti-communist politics of the period. In this period, the historian Richard Hofstadter and sociologist Daniel Bell compared the anti-elitism of the 1890s Populists with that of Joseph McCarthy. Although not all academics accepted the comparison between the left-wing, anti-big business Populists and the right-wing, anti-communist McCarthyites, the term "populist" nonetheless came to be applied to both left-wing and right-wing groups that blamed elites for the problems facing the country.

Some mainstream politicians in the Republican Party recognised the utility of such a tactic and adopted it; Republican President Richard Nixon for instance popularised the term "silent majority" when appealing to voters. Right-wing populist rhetoric was also at the base of two of the most successful third-party presidential campaigns in the late 20th century, that of George C. Wallace in 1968 and Ross Perot in 1992. These politicians presented a consistent message that a "liberal elite" was threatening "our way of life" and using the welfare state to placate the poor and thus maintain their own power.

Former Oklahoma Senator Fred R. Harris, first elected in 1964, ran unsuccessfully for the US presidency in 1972 and 1976. Harris' New Populism embraced egalitarian themes.

In the first decade of the 21st century, two populist movements appeared in the US, both in response to the Great Recession: the Occupy movement and the Tea Party movement. The populist approach of the Occupy movement was broader, with its "people" being what it called "the 99%", while the "elite" it challenged was presented as both the economic and political elites. The Tea Party's populism was Producerism, while "the elite" it presented was more party partisan than that of Occupy, being defined largely—although not exclusively—as the Democratic administration of President Barack Obama.

The 2016 presidential election saw a wave of populist sentiment in the campaigns of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, with both candidates running on anti-establishment platforms in the Democratic and Republican parties, respectively. Both campaigns criticised free trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership but differed significantly on other issues, such as immigration. Other studies have noted an emergence of populist rhetoric and a decline in the value of prior experience in U.S. intra-party contests such as congressional primaries. Nativism and hostility toward immigrants (especially Muslims, Hispanics and Asians) were common features.

Latin America

Main article: Populism in Latin America

Javier Milei, Argentina President, is a well known libertarian populist.

Populism has been dominant in Latin American politics since the 1930s and 1940s, being far more prevalent there than in Europe. Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser noted that the region has the world's "most enduring and prevalent populist tradition". They suggested that this was the case because it was a region with a long tradition of democratic governance and free elections, but with high rates of socio-economic inequality, generating widespread resentments that politicians can articulate through populism. March instead thought that it was the important role of "catch-all parties and prominent personalities" in Latin American politics which had made populism more common.

The first wave of Latin American populism began at the start of the Great Depression in 1929 and last until the end of the 1960s. In various countries, politicians took power while emphasising "the people": these included Getúlio Vargas in Brazil, Juan Perón in Argentina, and José María Velasco Ibarra in Ecuador. These relied on the Americanismo ideology, presenting a common identity across Latin America and denouncing any interference from imperialist powers. The second wave took place in the early 1990s; de la Torre called it "neoliberal populism".

In the late 1980s, many Latin American states were experiencing economic crisis and several populist figures were elected by blaming the elites for this situation. Examples include Carlos Menem in Argentina, Fernando Collor de Mello in Brazil, and Alberto Fujimori in Peru. Once in power, these individuals pursued neoliberal economic strategies recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Unlike the first wave, the second did not include an emphasis on Americanismo or anti-imperialism.

The third wave began in the final years of the 1990s and continued into the 21st century. It overlapped in part with the pink tide of left-wing resurgence in Latin America. Like the first wave, the third made heavy use of Americanismo and anti-imperialism, although this time these themes presented alongside an explicitly socialist programme that opposed the free market. Prominent examples included Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, Cristina de Kirchner in Argentina, Evo Morales in Bolivia, Rafael Correa in Ecuador, and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua. These socialist populist governments have presented themselves as giving sovereignty "back to the people", in particular through the formation of constituent assemblies that would draw up new constitutions, which could then be ratified via referendums. In this way they claimed to be correcting the problems of social and economic injustice that liberal democracy had failed to deal with, replacing it with superior forms of democracy.

Oceania

During the 1990s, there was a growth in populism in both Australia and New Zealand.

In New Zealand, Robert Muldoon, the 31st Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1975 to 1984, had been cited as a populist. Populism has become a pervasive trend in New Zealand politics since the introduction of the mixed-member proportional voting system in 1996. The New Zealand Labour Party's populist appeals in its 1999 election campaign and advertising helped to propel the party to victory in that election. New Zealand First has presented a more lasting populist platform; long-time party leader Winston Peters has been characterised by some as a populist who uses anti-establishment rhetoric, though in a uniquely New Zealand style.

Further information: Populism in New Zealand

Sub-Saharan Africa

In much of Africa, populism has been a rare phenomenon. The political scientist Danielle Resnick argued that populism first became apparent in Africa during the 1980s, when a series of coups brought military leaders to power in various countries. In Ghana, for example, Jerry Rawlings took control, professing that he would involve "the people" in "the decision-making process", something he claimed had previously been denied to them. A similar process took place in neighbouring Burkina Faso under the military leader Thomas Sankara, who professed to "take power out of the hands of our national bourgeoisie and their imperialist allies and put it in the hands of the people". Such military leaders claimed to represent "the voice of the people", utilised an anti-establishment discourse, and established participatory organisations through which to maintain links with the broader population.

In the 21st century, with the establishment of multi-party democratic systems in much of Sub-Saharan Africa, new populist politicians have appeared. These have included Kenya's Raila Odinga, Senegal's Abdoulaye Wade, South Africa's Julius Malema, and Zambia's Michael Sata. These populists have arisen in democratic rather than authoritarian states, and have arisen amid dissatisfaction with democratisation, socio-economic grievances, and frustration at the inability of opposition groups to oust incumbent parties.

Asia and the Arab world

Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines and Narendra Modi of India, 2018. They are both considered populist leaders of the left and right, respectively.

In North Africa, populism was associated with the approaches of several political leaders active in the 20th century, most notably Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser and Libya's Muammar Gaddafi. However, populist approaches only became more popular in the Middle East during the early 21st century, by which point it became integral to much of the region's politics. Here, it became an increasingly common element of mainstream politics in established representative democracies, associated with longstanding leaders like Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu. Although the Arab Spring was not a populist movement itself, populist rhetoric was present among protesters.

In southeast Asia, populist politicians emerged in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. In the region, various populist governments took power but were removed soon after: these include the administrations of Joseph Estrada in the Philippines, Roh Moo-hyun in South Korea, Chen Shui-bian in Taiwan, and Thaksin Shinawatra in Thailand. In India, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which rose to increasing power in the early 21st century adopted a right-wing populist position. Unlike many other successful populist groups, the BJP was not wholly reliant on the personality of its leader, but survived as a powerful electoral vehicle under several leaders.

Late 20th- and early 21st-century growth

Sheri Berman reviews various explanations of populism including "demand- and supply-side explanations of populism, economic grievance–based and sociocultural grievance–based explanations of populism, and structure- and agency-based explanations of populism". There is now a wide-ranging and interdisciplinary literature in this area.

In the early 1990s, there was an increasing awareness of populism in established liberal democracies, sometimes referred to as the "New Populism". The UK's referendum on European Union membership and the election of Donald Trump, both in 2016, generated a substantial rise in interest in the concept from both academics and the public. By 2016, "populism" was regularly used by political commentators.

A 2017 review of votes for populistic parties in all developed countries discovered them spiking in 2015 and reaching highest levels since WWII.

The rise of populism in Western Europe is, in large part, a reaction to the failure of traditional parties to respond adequately in the eyes of the electorate to a series of phenomena such as economic and cultural globalisation, the speed and direction of European integration, immigration, the decline of ideologies and class politics, exposure of elite corruption, etc. It is also the product of a much-cited, but rarely defined, "political malaise", manifested in steadily falling voter turnout across Western Europe, declining political party membership, and ever-greater numbers of citizens in surveys citing a lack of interest and distrust in politics and politicians.

Albertazzi and McDonnell, 2008

Mudde argued that by the early 1990s, populism had become a regular feature in Western democracies. He attributed this to changing perceptions of government that had spread in this period, which in turn he traced to the changing role of the media to focus increasingly on sensationalism and scandals. Since the late 1960s, the emergence of television had allowed for the increasing proliferation of the Western media, with media outlets becoming increasingly independent of political parties. As private media companies have had to compete against each other, they have placed an increasing focus on scandals and other sensationalist elements of politics, in doing so promoting anti-governmental sentiments among their readership and cultivating an environment prime for populists.

At the same time, politicians increasingly faced television interviews, exposing their flaws. News media had also taken to interviewing fewer accredited experts, and instead favouring interviewing individuals found on the street as to their views about current events. At the same time, mass media was giving less attention to the "high culture" of elites and more to other sectors of society, as reflected in reality television shows such as Big Brother.

Mudde argued that another reason for the growth of Western populism in this period was the improved education of the populace; since the 1960s, citizens have expected more from their politicians and felt increasingly competent to judge their actions. This in turn has led to an increasingly sceptical attitude toward mainstream politicians and governing groups. In Mudde's words, "More and more citizens think they have a good understanding of what politicians do, and think they can do it better."

Another factor is that in the post-Cold War period, liberal democracies no longer had the one-party states of the Eastern Bloc against which to favourably compare themselves; citizens were therefore increasingly able to compare the realities of the liberal democratic system with theoretical models of democracy, and find the former wanting. There is also the impact of globalisation, which is seen as having seriously limited the powers of national elites. Such factors undermine citizens' belief in the competency of governing elite, opening up space for charismatic leadership to become increasingly popular; although charismatic leadership is not the same as populist leadership, populists have been the main winners of this shift towards charismatic leadership. Peter Wilkins has argued that "The end of history and the post-Cold War extension and deepening of capitalism are central to understanding the rise of contemporary populist movements."

Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart connect economic and sociocultural theories of the causes of support for the growing populist movements in Western societies. The first theory they examine is the economic insecurity perspective which focuses on the consequences created by a transforming contemporary workforce and society in post-industrial economies. Norris suggests that events such as globalisation, China's membership of the World Trade Organisation and cheaper imports have left the unsecured members of society (low-waged unskilled workers, single parents, the long term unemployed and the poorer white populations) seeking populist leaders such as Donald Trump and Nigel Farage.

The other theory is the cultural backlash thesis, in which Norris and Inglehart suggest that the rise of populism is a reaction from previously dominant sectors of the population, the white, uneducated, elderly men of today, who feel threatened and marginalised by the progressive values of modern society. These groups in particular have a growing resentment towards their traditional values being scolded as politically incorrect and are much more likely to become supportive of anti-establishment, xenophobic political parties. Norris and Inglehart have analyzed data from the World Values Survey. On this basis, they argue that while the proximate cause of right-wing populist voting may be identified in sociocultural grievances, such grievances are increasingly being driven by economic insecurity and the erosion of traditional values.

Using Brexit and Trump's election as examples, Michael Sandel in his 2020 book The Tyranny of Merit argues that populism came out of disenchantment with 'meritocratic' elites ruling over disenchanted working people. He states the popular backlash against meritocracy predicted by Michael Dunlop Young in The Rise of the Meritocracy to occur in the 2030s in fact arrived a few decades early. Sandel suggests political systems that reject meritocracy and champion the dignity of labour as the solution to this problem.

See also

• Labourism
• Neopopulism
• Fiscal populism
• Argumentum ad populum
• Black populism
• Class warfare
• Communitarianism
• Demagogue
• Elite theory
• Empire of Democracy
• Extremism
• Fanaticism
• Fundamentalism
• List of populists
• Iron law of oligarchy
• Judicial populism
• Ochlocracy (mob rule)
• Paternalism
• Penal populism
• Politainment
• Polite populism
• Political polarization
• Poporanism
• Populism in Latin America
• Post-democracy
• Radical politics
• Reactionism
• Third party (politics)
• Tyranny of the majority

References

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Further reading

General

• Abromeit, John et al., eds. Transformations of Populism in Europe and the Americas: History and Recent Tendencies (Bloomsbury, 2015). xxxii, 354 pp.
• Adamidis, Vasileios (2021). "Populism and the Rule of Recognition" (PDF). Populism. 4: 1–24. doi:10.1163/25888072-BJA10016. S2CID 234082341.
• Adamidis, Vasileios (2021), Populist Rhetorical Strategies in the Courts of classical Athens. Athens Journal of History 7(1): 21–40.
• Albertazzi, Daniele and Duncan McDonnell. 2008. Twenty-First Century Populism: The Spectre of Western European Democracy Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-01349-0
• Berlet, Chip. 2005. "When Alienation Turns Right: Populist Conspiracism, the Apocalyptic Style, and Neofascist Movements". In Lauren Langman & Devorah Kalekin Fishman, (eds.), Trauma, Promise, and the Millennium: The Evolution of Alienation. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.
• Boyte, Harry C. 2004. Everyday Politics: Reconnecting Citizens and Public Life. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
• Brass, Tom. 2000. Peasants, Populism and Postmodernism: The Return of the Agrarian Myth. London: Frank Cass Publishers.
• Bevernage, Berber et al., eds. Claiming the People's Past: Populist Politics of History in the Twenty-First Century. United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press, 2024.
• Caiani, Manuela. "Populism/Populist Movements". in The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements (2013).
• Coles, Rom. 2006. "Of Tensions and Tricksters: Grassroots Democracy Between Theory and Practice", Perspectives on Politics Vol. 4:3 (Fall), pp. 547–61
• Denning, Michael. 1997. The Cultural Front: The Laboring of American Culture in the Twentieth Century. London: Verso.
• Emibayer, Mustafa and Ann Mishe. 1998. "What is Agency?", American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 103:4, pp. 962–1023
• Foster, John Bellamy. "This Is Not Populism Archived 1 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine" (June 2017), Monthly Review
• Goodwyn, Lawrence, 1976, Democratic Promise: The Populist Moment in America. New York: Oxford University Press
• Götz, Norbert, and Emilia Palonen. 2024. "History: The Moral Economy Perspective", in Research Handbook on Populism, ed. Yannis Stavrakakis and Giorgos Katsambekis (Cheltenham: Elgar), pp. 239–250.
• Hogg, Michael A., "Radical Change: Uncertainty in the world threatens our sense of self. To cope, people embrace populism", Scientific American, vol. 321, no. 3 (September 2019), pp. 85–87.
• Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira, ed. (2017). The Oxford Handbook of Populism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-880356-0. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
• Kazin, Michael. "Trump and American Populism". Foreign Affairs (Nov/Dec 2016), 95#6 pp. 17–24.
• Khoros, Vladimir. 1984. Populism: Its Past, Present and Future. Moscow: Progress Publishers.
• Kling, Joseph M. and Prudence S. Posner. 1990. Dilemmas of Activism. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
• Kuzminski, Adrian. Fixing the System: A History of Populism, Ancient & Modern. New York: Continuum Books, 2008.
• Laclau, Ernesto. 1977. Politics and Ideology in Marxist Theory: Capitalism, Fascism, Populism. London: NLB/Atlantic Highlands Humanities Press.
• Laclau, Ernesto. 2005. On Populist Reason Archived 8 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine. London: Verso
• Martelli, Jean-Thomas; Jaffrelot, Christophe (2023). "Do Populist Leaders Mimic the Language of Ordinary Citizens? Evidence from India". Political Psychology. 44 (5): 1141–1160. doi:10.1111/pops.12881. S2CID 256128025.
• McCoy, Alfred W (2 April 2017). The Bloodstained Rise of Global Populism: A Political Movement’s Violent Pursuit of "Enemies" Archived 2 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine, TomDispatch
• Minkenberg, Michael (2021). "The Radical Right and Anti-Immigrant Politics in Liberal Democracies since World War II: Evolution of a Political and Research Field". Polity. 53 (3): 394–417. doi:10.1086/714167. S2CID 235494475.
• Morelock, Jeremiah ed. Critical Theory and Authoritarian Populism Archived 29 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine. 2018. London: University of Westminster Press.
• Müller, Jan-Werner. What is Populism? Archived 21 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine (August 2016), Univ. of Pennsylvania Press. Also by Müller on populism: Capitalism in One Family Archived 27 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine (December 2016), London Review of Books, Vol. 38, No. 23, pp. 10–14
• Peters, B. Guy and Jon Pierre. 2020. "A typology of populism: understanding the different forms of populism and their implications." Democratization.
• Ronderos, Sebastián (March 2021). O'Loughlin, Michael; Voela, Angie (eds.). "Hysteria in the squares: Approaching populism from a perspective of desire". Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society. 26 (1). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan: 46–64. doi:10.1057/s41282-020-00189-y. eISSN 1543-3390. ISSN 1088-0763. S2CID 220306519.
• Rupert, Mark. 1997. "Globalization and the Reconstruction of Common Sense in the US". In Innovation and Transformation in International Studies, S. Gill and J. Mittelman, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Europe

• Anselmi, Manuel, 2017. Populism. An Introduction, London: Routledge.
• Betz, Hans-Georg. 1994. Radical Right-wing Populism in Western Europe, New York: St. Martins Press. ISBN 978-0-312-08390-8
• Fritzsche, Peter. 1990. Rehearsals for Fascism: Populism and Political Mobilization in Weimar Germany. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-505780-5
• De Blasio, Emiliana, Hibberd, Matthew and Sorice, Michele. 2011. Popular politics, populism and the leaders. Access without participation? The cases of Italy and UK. Roma: CMCS-LUISS University. ISBN 978-88-6536-021-7
• Fritzsche, Peter. 1998. Germans into Nazis. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
• Hartleb, Florian 2011: After their establishment: Right-wing Populist Parties in Europe, Centre for European Studies/Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Brüssel, (download: [1] Archived 29 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine)
• Kriesi, H. (2014), The Populist Challenge, West European Politics, vol. 37, n. 2, pp. 361–378.
• Mudde, Cas. "The populist radical right: A pathological normalcy." West European Politics 33.6 (2010): 1167–1186. online
• Mudde, Cas (2021). "Populism in Europe: An Illiberal Democratic Response to Undemocratic Liberalism (TheGovernment and Opposition/Leonard Schapiro Lecture 2019)". Government and Opposition. 56 (4): 577–597. doi:10.1017/gov.2021.15. S2CID 236286140.
• Mudde, C. (2012). The Relationship Between Immigration and Nativism in Europe and North America (PDF). Migration Policy Institute. pp. 14–15.
• Paterson, Lindsay (2000). "Civil Society: Enlightenment Ideal and Demotic Nationalism". Social Text. 18 (4): 109–116. doi:10.1215/01642472-18-4_65-109. S2CID 143793741.
• Wodak, Ruth, Majid KhosraviNik, and Brigitte Mral. "Right-wing populism in Europe". Politics and discourse (2013). online

Latin America

• Conniff, Michael L. (2020). "A historiography of populism and neopopulism in Latin America". History Compass. 18 (9). doi:10.1111/hic3.12621. S2CID 225470570.
• Conniff, Michael L., ed. Populism in Latin America (1999) essays by experts
• Demmers, Jolle, et al eds. Miraculous Metamorphoses: The Neoliberalization of Latin American Populism (2001)
• Knight, Alan. "Populism and neo-populism in Latin America, especially Mexico." Journal of Latin American Studies 30.2 (1998): 223–248.
• Leaman, David (2004). "Changing Faces of Populism in Latin America: Masks, Makeovers, and Enduring Features". Latin American Research Review. 39 (3): 312–326. doi:10.1353/lar.2004.0052. JSTOR 1555484. S2CID 143707412.
• Stropparo, P. E. (2023). Pueblo desnudo y público movilizado por el poder: Vacancia del Defensor del Pueblo: algunas transformaciones en la democracia y en la opinión pública en Argentina . Revista Mexicana De Opinión Pública, (35). https://doi.org/10.22201/fcpys.24484911e.2023.35.85516

United States

• Abromeit, John. "Frankfurt School Critical Theory and the Persistence of Authoritarian Populism in the United States" In Morelock, Jeremiah Ed. Critical Theory and Authoritarian Populism. 2018. London: University of Westminster Press.
• Agarwal, Sheetal D., et al. "Grassroots organizing in the digital age: considering values and technology in Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street". Information, Communication & Society (2014) 17#3 pp. 326–41.
• Evans, Sara M. and Harry C. Boyte. 1986. Free Spaces: The Sources of Democratic Change in America. New York: Harper & Row.
• Goodwyn, Lawrence. 1976. Democratic Promise: The Populist Moment in America. New York and London: Oxford University Press.; abridged as The Populist Moment: A Short History of the Agrarian Revolt in America. (Oxford University Press, 1978)
• Hahn, Steven. 1983. Roots of Southern Populism: Yeoman Farmers and the Transformation of the Georgia Upcountry, 1850–1890. New York and London: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-530670-5
• Hofstadter, Richard. 1955. The Age of Reform: from Bryan to F.D.R. New York: Knopf.
• Hofstadter, Richard. 1965. The Paranoid Style in American Politics, and Other Essays. New York: Knopf.
• Jeffrey, Julie Roy. 1975. "Women in the Southern Farmers Alliance: A Reconsideration of the Role and Status of Women in the Late 19th Century South". Feminist Studies 3.
• Judis, John B. 2016. The Populist Explosion: How the Great Recession Transformed American and European Politics. New York: Columbia Global Reports. ISBN 978-0-9971264-4-0
• Kazin, Michael. 1995. The Populist Persuasion: An American History. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-03793-3
• Kindell, Alexandra & Demers, Elizabeth S. (2014). Encyclopedia of Populism in America: A Historical Encyclopedia. 2 vol. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-59884-568-6. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2015.; 200+ articles in 901 pp
• Lipset, Seymour Martin. "The radical right: A problem for American democracy." British Journal of Sociology 6.2 (1955): 176–209. online
• Maier, Chris. "The Farmers' Fight for Representation: Third-Party Politics in South Dakota, 1889–1918". Great Plains Quarterly (2014) 34#2 pp. 143–62.
• Marable, Manning. 1986. "Black History and the Vision of Democracy", in Harry Boyte and Frank Riessman, Eds., The New Populism: The Politics of Empowerment. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
• Palmer, Bruce. 1980. Man Over Money: The Southern Populist Critique of American Capitalism. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
• Rasmussen, Scott, and Doug Schoen. (2010) Mad as hell: How the Tea Party movement is fundamentally remaking our two-party system (HarperCollins, 2010)
• Stock, Catherine McNicol. 1996. Rural Radicals: Righteous Rage in the American Grain. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-3294-1

External links

• Populism at the Encyclopædia Britannica
• The PopuList: a database of populist, far-left, and far-right parties in Europe since 1989