{{Short description|Political ideology emphasising the "common people"}}
{{Distinguish|Popolarismo}}
{{Redirect|Populist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2026}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2019}}
{{Populism sidebar|expanded=true}}
'''Populism''' is a [[essentially contested concept|contested concept]][{{Cite book|chapter=How to define populism? Reflections on a contested concept and its (mis)use in the social sciences|chapter-url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315108070-5 |doi=10.4324/9781315108070-5|title=Populism and the Crisis of Democracy, Volume 1 (Concepts and Theory) |page=62 |year=2018|location=New York|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781315108070|first=Cristóbal |last=Rovira Kaltwasser |editor-first1=Gregor |editor-last1=Fitzi |editor-first2=Juergen |editor-last2=Mackert |editor-first3=Bryan |editor-last3=Turner}}][{{Cite journal|title=Clarifying a Contested Concept: Populism in the Study of Latin American Politics |journal=Comparative Politics |pages=1–22 |volume=34 |issue=1 |year=2001 |doi=10.2307/422412 |first=Kurt |last=Weyland|jstor=422412 }}] for a variety of political stances that emphasise the idea of the "[[common people]]", often in opposition to a perceived elite.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|page=25}} It is frequently associated with [[anti-establishment]] and [[anti-political]] sentiment.[{{cite book|last=Glaser|first=E.|title=Anti-Politics: On the Demonization of Ideology, Authority and the State|publisher=Watkins Media|year=2018|isbn=978-1-912248-12-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6uwxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT20|access-date=23 April 2023|page=20}}]
The term developed in the late 19th century and has been applied to various politicians, parties, and movements since that time, often assuming a [[pejorative]] tone. Within [[political science]] and other [[social science]]s, different definitions of populism have been employed.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|page=25}}[{{cite journal |last=Stavrakakis |first=Yannis |title=How did 'populism' become a pejorative concept? And why is this important today? A genealogy of double hermeneutics |date=2017 |journal=Populismus Working Papers |number=6 |url=https://ikee.lib.auth.gr/record/313933/files/stavrakakis-populismus-wp-6-upload.pdf |access-date=1 April 2025}}][{{cite journal |last=Jäger |first=Anton |title=The Semantic Drift: Images of Populism in Post-War American Historiography and Their Relevance for (European) Political Science |journal=Constellations |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=310–323 |date=September 2017 |doi=10.1111/1467-8675.12308 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8675.12308 |access-date=1 April 2025|url-access=subscription }}]
=== Origins and early political uses ===
The word first appeared in English in 1858, where it was used as an antonym for "aristocratic" in a translation of a work by [[Alphonse de Lamartine]].[{{Cite book|last=Lamartine|first=Alphonse Marie L. de Prat de|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lWIIAAAAQAAJ|title=History of the constituent assembly, 1789–90|date=1858|language=en}}] 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".{{sfnm|1a1=Allcock|1y=1971|1p=372|2a1=Canovan|2y=1981|2pp=5–6}} Russian populism in the late 19th century aimed to transfer political power to the [[Obshchina|peasant communes]] through a radical program of [[agrarian reform]], and has been described by some historians as an important intellectual and organisational precursor to influencing later revolutionary movements in Russia.{{sfn|March|2007|p=65}} In English, however, the term gained broader prominence through its use by the U.S.-based [[People's Party (United States)|People's Party]] and its predecessors, active between the 1880s and early 1900s.{{sfnm|1a1=Allcock|1y=1971|1p=372|2a1=Canovan|2y=1981|2p=5|3a1=Akkerman|3y=2003|3p=148}} The People's Party championed small-scale farmers, advocating for expansionist [[monetary policy|monetary policies]] and accessible credit, and was relatively progressive – for its time – on issues concerning women's and minority rights.[{{cite book|last1=Frank|first1=Thomas|title=The People, No|date=2020|publisher=Metropolitan Books|isbn=978-1-250-22010-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AXGVDwAAQBAJ}} {{Cite book |last=Clanton |first=Glene |title=Populism: The Humane Preference in America |date=1991 |publisher=Twayne |location=Boston |pages=44, 83, 129, 131}} {{Cite book |last=McMath |first=Robert |title=American Populism: A Social History 1877–1898 |date=1992 |publisher=Hill & Wang |location=New York |pages=125, 127}}] Although both the Russian and American movements have been labeled "populist", they differed in their ideological content and historical trajectory.{{sfnm|1a1=Allcock|1y=1971|1p=372|2a1=Canovan|2y=1981|2p=14}}
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.[{{cite book |last=Tarragoni |first=Federico |title=L'esprit démocratique du populisme |year=2019 |publisher=La Découverte |isbn=9782707197306 |url=https://www.editionsladecouverte.fr/l_esprit_democratique_du_populisme-9782707197306 |page=145}}]{{sfn|Eatwell|2017|p=366}} Léon Lemonnier published a manifesto for the genre in 1929, and Antonine Coullet-Tessier established a prize for it in 1931.[{{cite news |last=Lemonnier |first=Léon |title=Un manifeste littéraire : le roman populiste |newspaper=L’Œuvre |date=27 August 1929 |issue=5079 |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4618359n |language=fr}}]
The term entered the Latin American political lexicon in the [[post-war]] period, becoming a defining feature of the region's political landscape.[{{Cite book |author=Zicman de Barros, Thomás; Lago, Miguel |title=Do que falamos quando falamos de populismo |url=https://www.companhiadasletras.com.br/livro/9786559211241/do-que-falamos-quando-falamos-de-populismo |location=São Paulo |publisher=Companhia das Letras |year=2022 |pages=33–42 |isbn=9786559211241 |ref={{harvid|Zicman de Barros and Lago}}}}] 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.{{sfn|Zicman de Barros and Lago|pp=43–47}}
=== 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, analyzing the rise of [[McCarthyism]], sociologist [[Edward Shils]] published an article proposing ''populism'' as a term to describe anti-elite trends in US society more broadly.[{{cite journal |last=Shils |first=Edward |title=Populism and the Rule of Law |journal=University of Chicago Law School Conference on Jurisprudence and Politics |volume=15 |year=1954}}]{{sfn|Allcock|1971|pp=372–373}} Simultaneously in Brazil, political scientist [[Hélio Jaguaribe]], responding to the country's emerging "populist hype" in the press, published what is considered the first academic text on Latin American populism, framing it as a form of class conciliation.[{{cite journal |last=Jaguaribe |first=Hélio |title=O que é o ademarismo? |journal=Cadernos do Nosso Tempo |volume=2 |pages=139–149 |year=1954 |url=https://periodicos.uff.br/revista_estudos_politicos/article/view/38628/22150 |doi=10.22409/rep.v3i5.38628 |doi-broken-date=28 July 2026 |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 April 2025 |access-date=30 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250408101022/https://periodicos.uff.br/revista_estudos_politicos/article/view/38628/22150 }}][{{cite book |last=Hofstadter |first=Richard |title=The Age of Reform: From Bryan to F.D.R. |chapter=The Folklore of Populism |year=1990 |orig-year=1955 |publisher=Vintage Books |location=New York}}][{{cite book |last=Bell |first=Daniel |title=The Radical Right |chapter=Interpretations of American Politics |publisher=Criterion Books |location=New York |year=1956}}] 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.[{{cite book|title=Populism: Its Meanings and National Characteristics|last1=Ionescu|first1=Ghita|last2=Gellner|first2=Ernest (Eds.)|publisher=The Garden City Press|year=1967|location=Letchworth}}]{{sfn|Allcock|1971|p=378}}
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.{{sfn|Canovan|1981|p=6}} As a result, populism has come to be applied across a broad range of political contexts and figures, often without clear or consistent definition.{{sfnm|1a1=Albertazzi|1a2=McDonnell|1y=2008|1p=3|2a1=Mudde|2a2=Rovira Kaltwasser|2y=2017|2p=2}} The term has often been conflated with other concepts like demagoguery,{{sfnm|1a1=Stanley|1y=2008|1p=101|2a1=Hawkins|2a2=Rovira Kaltwasser|2y=2019|2p=1}} and generally presented as something to be feared and discredited.{{sfn|Stanley|2008|p=101}} It has often been applied as a catchword to movements that are considered to be outside the political mainstream or a threat to democracy.{{sfnm|1a1=Canovan|1y=2004|1p=244|2a1=Tormey|2y=2018|2p=260|3a1=Mény|3a2=Surel|3y=2002|3p=3}}
=== Populist hype and scholarly debate ===
Although scholars had already observed that populism was becoming a recurring feature of Western democracies by the early 1990s,{{sfn|Canovan|2004|p=242}}{{sfn|Mudde|2004|p=551}} the term gained unprecedented global prominence following the political upheavals of 2016—most notably, the election of [[Donald Trump]] as President of the United States and the [[2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum|United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union]]. Both events were widely interpreted as expressions of populist sentiment, sparking renewed public interest in the concept.{{sfn|Tormey|2018|p=260}}{{sfn|Anselmi|2018|p=1}} Reflecting this heightened attention, the ''[[Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary|Cambridge Dictionary]]'' selected "populism" as its [[Word of the Year]] in 2017.[{{cite web|url=https://www.cam.ac.uk/news/populism-revealed-as-2017-word-of-the-year-by-cambridge-university-press|title='Populism' revealed as 2017 Word of the Year by Cambridge University Press|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|date=30 November 2017|access-date=9 August 2018|archive-date=9 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809090852/https://www.cam.ac.uk/news/populism-revealed-as-2017-word-of-the-year-by-cambridge-university-press|url-status=live}}]
This so-called "populist hype" also found its counterpart in academia.[{{cite book |last1=Glynos |first1=Jason |last2=Mondon |first2=Aurélien |title=Populism and Passions |chapter=The political logic of the populist hype: The case of right-wing populism's ‘meteoric rise’ and its relation to the status quo |editor1-last=Cossarini |editor1-first=Paolo |editor2-last=Vallespín |editor2-first=Fernando |date=2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781351205474 |doi=10.4324/9781351205474-6 |url=https://researchportal.bath.ac.uk/en/publications/ac755e9c-0c03-42ad-8aed-477052c7fd97 |chapter-url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781351205474-6}}] Whereas between 1950 and 1960 roughly 160 publications on populism were recorded, that number rose to over 1,500 between 1990 and 2000.{{sfn|Anselmi|2018|p=3}}{{sfn|Taggart|2002|p=63}} 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.[{{Cite journal|last1=Noury|first1=Abdul|last2=Roland|first2=Gerard|date=11 May 2020|title=Identity Politics and Populism in Europe|journal=Annual Review of Political Science|language=en|volume=23|issue=1|pages=421–439|doi=10.1146/annurev-polisci-050718-033542|issn=1094-2939|doi-access=free}}]
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 (politics)|nativism]] has drawn criticism for misrepresenting the ethos of historical self-described populists,[{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Katy |last2=Mondon |first2=Aurelien |last3=Winter |first3=Aaron |chapter=‘I’m not "racist" but’: Liberalism, Populism and Euphemisation in the Guardian |editor1-last=Freedman |editor1-first=Des |title=Capitalism's Conscience: 200 Years of the Guardian |publisher=Pluto Press |year=2021 |isbn=9780745343341 |url=https://repository.uel.ac.uk/item/89wvz |access-date=1 April 2025}}][{{Cite journal|last=Art|first=David|date=2020|title=The Myth of Global Populism|journal=Perspectives on Politics|volume=20|issue=3|language=en|pages=999–1011|doi=10.1017/S1537592720003552|s2cid=228858887|issn=1537-5927|doi-access=}}]{{sfnm|1a1=Stanley|1y=2008|1p=101|2a1=March|2y=2007|2pp=68–69}}
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.{{sfnm|1a1=Canovan|1y=1981|1pp=5–6|2a1=Albertazzi|2a2=McDonnell|2y=2008|2p=3|3a1=Mudde|3a2=Rovira Kaltwasser|3y=2017|3p=5}}
== Theories ==
Owing to the [[polysemy]] of the term ‘populism’, it has been variously interpreted across theoretical frameworks and associated with multiple, sometimes incompatible, definitions. Scholars differ sharply in their assessments of populism: while some define it as inherently anti-democratic, stressing its threats to liberal institutions and the rule of law,[{{cite book |last=Urbinati |first=Nadia |title=Me the People: How Populism Transforms Democracy |year=2019 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |page=8 |doi=10.2307/j.ctvk12sz4}}][{{cite journal |last=Arato |first=Andrew |title=Political Theology and Populism |journal=Social Research |volume=80 |issue=1 |pages=143–172 |year=2013 |doi=10.1353/sor.2013.0020 |jstor=24385712 }}] others view it as an inherently democratic impulse aimed at empowering marginalized groups and restoring popular sovereignty.[{{cite journal |last=Vergara |first=Camila |title=Populism as Plebeian Politics: Inequality, Domination, and Popular Empowerment |journal=Journal of Political Philosophy |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=222–246 |year=2020 |doi=10.1111/jopp.12203}}]{{sfn|Tarragoni|2019|pp=25–26}} Still others argue that populism can assume multiple and even contradictory facets depending on the context. 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.[Mudde & Rovira Kaltwasser 2013, pp. 149–150.][Mudde & Rovira Kaltwasser 2017, p. 6.][Abi-Hassan 2017, p. 427.] It positions populism not as a comprehensive ideology but one that attaches itself to broader political movements, like [[socialism]] or conservatism.[Stanley 2008, pp. 95, 99–100, 106–107.][March 2007, p. 64.][Albertazzi & McDonnell 2008, p. 4.] Scholars like [[Cas Mudde]] and Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser emphasize that populism is moralistic rather than programmatic, promoting a binary worldview that resists compromise.[Mudde 2004, p. 544.] This ideology is present across diverse political systems, is not limited to charismatic leadership, and can be employed flexibly to support a range of agendas on both the left and the right.[{{cite book |last1=Mudde |first1=Cas |last2=Rovira Kaltwasser |first2=Cristóbal |title=Populism in Europe and the Americas: Threat or Corrective for Democracy? |chapter=Populism and (Liberal) Democracy: A Framework for Analysis |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=2012 |page=10 |isbn=9781139152365 |doi=10.1017/CBO9781139152365 |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139152365}}][{{cite book|last1=Levitsky|first1=Steven|title=Populism and Competitive Authoritarianism in the Latin America|last2=Loxton|first2=James|date=30 August 2012|publisher=[[American Political Science Association]]|location=New Orleans}}] By often claiming to represent the authentic will of the people, populists—particularly those aligned with [[Right-wing populism|right-wing]] movements—may facilitate executive power concentration and bypass or actively undermine liberal democratic institutions designed to safeguard minority rights, most notably the judiciary and the media, often portrayed as disconnected from the populace.{{sfnm|1a1=March|1y=2007|1p=73|2a1=Mudde|2a2=Rovira Kaltwasser|2y=2017|2pp=81–90|3a1=McDonnell|3a2=Cabrera|3y=2019|3p=493|4a1=Akkerman|4y=2003|4p=56}}[{{Cite web|last=Norris|first=Pippa|author-link=Pippa Norris|date=April 2017|title=Is Western Democracy Backsliding? Diagnosing the Risks|url=http://journalofdemocracy.org/sites/default/files/media/Journal%20of%20Democracy%20Web%20Exchange%20-%20Norris_0.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180411111001/https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/sites/default/files/media/Journal%20of%20Democracy%20Web%20Exchange%20-%20Norris_0.pdf|archive-date=11 April 2018|access-date=28 August 2018|website=Journal of Democracy|series=Online Exchange on "Democratic Deconsolidation"|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|language=en|type=Scholarly response to column published online}}][{{Cite web|last1=Mounk|first1=Yascha|last2=Kyle|first2=Jordan|date=26 December 2018|title=What Populists Do to Democracies|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/12/hard-data-populism-bolsonaro-trump/578878/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309020711/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/12/hard-data-populism-bolsonaro-trump/578878/|archive-date=9 March 2021|access-date=27 December 2018|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US|type=Ideas}}][{{Cite journal |last1=Bessen |first1=Brett R. |date=2024 |title=Populist Discourse and Public Support for Executive Aggrandizement in Latin America |journal=Comparative Political Studies |volume=57 |issue=13 |pages=2118–2151 |doi=10.1177/00104140231223738 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00104140231223738}}] This dynamic can be especially potent in contexts where the [[rule of law]] has weak institutional foundations, creating fertile ground for [[democratic backsliding]].[{{Cite journal |last1=Kyriacou |first1=Andreas |last2=Trivin |first2=Pedro |date=2025 |title=Populism and the rule of law: The importance of institutional legacies |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ajps.12935 |journal=American Journal of Political Science |volume=70 |article-number=ajps.12935 |language=en |doi=10.1111/ajps.12935 |issn=1540-5907}}] In such cases, populist governance may give rise to what philosopher [[John Stuart Mill]] termed the "[[tyranny of the majority]]."{{sfn|March|2007|p=73}}
The ideational definition is not without criticism. Some argue that it proceeds [[Deductive reasoning|deductively]], establishing a definition in advance and then applying it to cases in a way that imposes rigid assumptions—such as moral dualism and the homogeneity of "the people"—that may not hold empirically in all contexts.[{{Cite journal|last=Freeden|first=Michael|date=2 January 2017|title=After the Brexit referendum: revisiting populism as an ideology|journal=Journal of Political Ideologies|volume=22|issue=1|pages=1–11|doi=10.1080/13569317.2016.1260813}}][{{Cite journal|last=Katsambekis|first=Giorgos|date=2 January 2022|title=Constructing 'the people' of populism: a critique of the ideational approach from a discursive perspective|journal=Journal of Political Ideologies|volume=27|issue=1|pages=53–74|doi=10.1080/13569317.2020.1844372 |url=https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/12982022 }}][{{Cite journal|last1=Stavrakakis|first1=Yannis|last2=Jäger|first2=Anton|date=2018|title=Accomplishments and limitations of the 'new' mainstream in contemporary populism studies|journal=European Journal of Social Theory|volume=21|issue=4|pages=547–565|doi=10.1177/1368431017723337}}]{{sfn|Dean|Maiguashca|2020|p=6}} Others caution that if broadly applied, the term risks becoming too vague, potentially encompassing most political discourse.{{sfn|Dean|Maiguashca|2020|p=4}}
=== Class-based approaches ===
Class-based approaches interpret populism as a phenomenon rooted in social class dynamics. Latin American scholars such as [[Hélio Jaguaribe]] and Gino Germani were among the first to interpret populism as a mass-based phenomenon of political mobilization, characteristic of societies undergoing rapid modernization.[{{cite journal |last=Germani |first=Gino |year=1961 |title=Démocratie représentative et classes populaires en Amérique latine |journal=Sociologie du Travail |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=96–113 |doi=10.3406/sotra.1961.1078 }}] They emphasized features such as personalist leadership, the political incorporation of previously excluded social sectors, and institutional fragility—often accompanied by authoritarian tendencies.[{{cite book|first=Gino|last=Germani|title=Authoritarianism, Fascism, and National Populism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zY6CMlIY0e0C|year=1978|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=978-1-4128-1771-4|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017084111/https://books.google.com/books?id=zY6CMlIY0e0C|archive-date=17 October 2015}}] In Germani's case, his theory of national-popular movements and the "authoritarianism of the popular classes" was developed in dialogue with American [[sociology|sociologist]] [[Seymour Martin Lipset]].[{{cite book |last=Germani |first=Ana Alejandra |title=Antifascism and Sociology: Gino Germani 1911–1979 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |year=2008 |location=New Brunswick, NJ |isbn=978-1412806817 |url=https://www.routledge.com/Antifascism-and-Sociology-Gino-Germani-1911-1979/Germani/p/book/9781412806817}}][{{cite book |last=Amaral |first=Samuel Eduardo |year=2018 |chapter=El movimiento nacional-popular: el intercambio Germani-Lipset |title=El movimiento nacional-popular: Gino Germani y el peronismo |series=Colección de estudios de historia del peronismo |pages=51–80 |publisher=Eduntref |location=Sáenz Peña}}] Drawing in part on analyses of [[McCarthyism]], Lipset argued that populism is a movement that unites various social classes, typically around a charismatic leader.[{{Cite book |last=Lipset |first=Seymour Martin |author-link1=Seymour Martin Lipset |title=Political Man |url=https://archive.org/details/politicalmansoci00inlips |location=New York |publisher=Doubleday & Company |year=1960 |pages=167–173 }}] 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]], [[Fernando Henrique Cardoso]] and [[Octavio Ianni]].[{{Cite book |last=Weffort |first=Francisco |author-link1=Francisco Weffort |title=O populismo na política brasileira |location=São Paulo |publisher=Civilização Brasileira |year=1978 |isbn=9788521905998 }}][{{cite book |last=Cardoso |first=Fernando Henrique |author-link=Fernando Henrique Cardoso |year=1969 |orig-year=1965 |chapter=Os agentes sociais de mudança e conservação na América Latina (um programa de estudos) |title=Mudanças sociais na América Latina |series=Corpo e Alma do Brasil |pages=23–50 |location=São Paulo |publisher=Difusão Européia do Livro}}][{{Cite book |last=Ianni|first=Octavio |author-link1=Octavio Ianni |title=O colapso do populismo no Brasil |location=São Paulo |publisher=Civilização Brasileira |year=1968 |isbn=9788520001431}}] Breaking with the sympathetic stance toward Russian populism found in the late writings of [[Karl Marx]],[{{Cite book |chapter=Late Marx: gods and craftsmen |title=Late Marx and the Russian Road |editor-first=Teodor |editor-last=Shanin |pages=3–39 |year=1983 |location=London |publisher=Monthly Review Press |isbn=9780853456476 }}] 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.[{{Cite journal |last1=Ronderos |first1=Sebastián |last2=Zicman de Barros |first2=Thomás |title=Populism and Anti-populism in Brazilian Politics: Masses, Political Logics and Contested Signifiers |journal=Aurora |volume=12 |issue=36 |year=2020 |doi=10.23925/v12n36_dossie2 |doi-access=free }}] 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.[{{cite book |last=Santos |first=Wanderley Guilherme dos |year=1963 |title=Reforma contra reforma |publisher=Tempo Brasileiro |location=Rio de Janeiro|pages=49–90}}] 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 [[Fourth Brazilian Republic|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.[{{Cite book |chapter=O colapso do colapso do populismo, ou a propósito de uma herança maldita |title=O populismo e sua história: Debate e crítica |editor-first=Jorge |editor-last=Ferreira |first=Daniel Aarão |last=Reis |location=Rio de Janeiro |publisher=Civilização Brasileira |year=2001 |page=319 |isbn=9788520005774 }}]
=== Discursive approaches ===
[[File:Presentación del Documental CATASTROIKA y Presentación de la Revista Debates y Combates (7215329954).jpg|thumb|The Argentine political theorist [[Ernesto Laclau]] developed a distinctive definition of populism, viewing it as a potentially positive force for emancipatory social change.]]
The discursive approach is most closely associated with Argentine political theorist [[Ernesto Laclau]] and other scholars of the so-called [[Essex School of discourse analysis|Essex School]].{{sfn|Laclau|2005}} 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.[{{Cite book |last=Marchart |first=Oliver |chapter=The Political and the Impossibility of Society: Ernesto Laclau |title=Post-foundational political thought: Political difference in Nancy, Lefort, Badiou and Laclau |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt1r2bs1 |location=Edinburgh |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2007 |pages=154–176 |isbn=9780748624973 |jstor=10.3366/j.ctt1r2bs1 }}]
Normatively, Laclau's definition of populism refrains from judging whether populism is inherently positive or negative.[{{cite AV media |people=Laclau, Ernesto |date=2011 |title=Populism: Manipulation or Emancipation ''[Λαϊκισμός: Χειραγώγηση ή χειραφέτηση]'' |medium=Television program episode |series=Places of Life, Places of Ideas [Τόποι Ζωής, Τόποι Ιδεών], directed by Giorgos Keramidiotis |location=Thessaloniki |publisher=ET3 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A8hEbJMhgs&ab_channel=stazybohorn&t=1572 |time=23:15–27:05}}] However, it sets itself apart from previous approaches by regarding some populist experiences in power as genuinely democratizing. Building on this perspective, some scholars influenced by Laclau argue that populism is inherently emancipatory and pluralistic, and that authoritarian and nationalist movements often labeled as populist would be more accurately described as fascist.[{{cite book |last1=Biglieri |first1=Paula |last2=Cadahia |first2=Luciana |title=Seven Essays on Populism: For a Renewed Theoretical Perspective |publisher=Polity |location=Medford |year=2021 |isbn=9781509542215 |pages=20–40}}]
=== Performative/socio-cultural approaches ===
The performative approach—also known as the socio-cultural approach and occasionally referred to as the stylistic approach—is often presented as a branch of the discursive approach. Its main exponents include Pierre Ostiguy, Benjamin Moffitt, and María Esperanza Casullo.{{sfnm|1a1=Ostiguy|1y=2009|1p=7|2a1=Ostiguy|2y=2017|2p=73}}{{sfn|Moffitt|2016|p=39}}{{sfn|Casullo|2021|p=77}}{{sfnm|1a1=Aiolfi|1y=2022|1p=6|2a1=Aiolfi|2y=2025|2p=138}} 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.[{{Cite journal|last1=Zicman de Barros |first1=Thomás |last2=Aiolfi |first2=Théo |title=The Transgressive Aesthetics of Populism |journal=Politics |pages=1–19 |year=2025 |volume=46 |issue=2 |article-number=02633957241312601 |doi=10.1177/02633957241312601 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/02633957241312601 |url-access=subscription |ref=ZicmanAiolfi2025a}}]
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.[{{cite journal |last=Roberts |first=Kenneth M. |year=1995 |title=Neoliberalism and the transformation of populism in Latin America: The Peruvian case |journal=World Politics |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=82–116 |doi=10.1353/wp.1995.0004 }}] Kurt Weyland defined this conception of populism as a political strategy employed by a personalist leader who governs through direct, unmediated, uninstitutionalized support from large numbers of mostly unorganized followers.[{{cite journal |last=Weyland |first=Kurt |year=1999 |title=Neoliberal populism in Latin America and Eastern Europe |journal=Comparative Politics |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=379–401 |doi=10.2307/422236 |jstor=422236 }}] According to this perspective, a populist strategy for winning and exerting state power stands in tension with democracy and the values of pluralism, open debate, and fair competition.[{{cite journal|last1=Weyland|first1=Kurt|date=July 2013|title=Latin America's Authoritarian Drift|journal=Journal of Democracy|volume=24|issue=3|pages=18–32|doi=10.1353/jod.2013.0045|s2cid=154433853}}][{{cite book|last1=Madrid|first1=Raúl|title=The Rise of Ethnic Politics in Latin America|date=June 2012|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-15325-6|location=Cambridge|pages=178–83}}]
A common criticism of the strategic approach is that, by focusing on leadership, this concept of populism does not allow for the existence of populist parties or populist social movements.{{sfn|Hawkins|Rovira Kaltwasser|2019|p=6}} As a result, it overlooks historical cases often considered paradigmatic of populism, such as the US People's Party.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2013|p=154}} Furthermore, this approach may inadvertently reinforce popular perceptions of populism as a style of politics characterized by overly simplistic solutions to complex problems, delivered in an emotionally charged manner or through the promotion of short-term, unrealistic, and unsustainable policies.{{sfn|Mudde|2004|pp=542–543}} 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 or [[opportunism]].
=== Economic approaches ===
Closely related to the ideas of demagogy and opportunism, 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.{{sfnm|1a1=Mudde|1a2=Rovira Kaltwasser|1y=2017|1pp=3–4|2a1=Hawkins|2a2=Rovira Kaltwasser|2y=2019|2p=6}} This understanding gained prominence in the 1980s and 1990s through economists such as [[Rudiger Dornbusch]], [[Jeffrey Sachs]], and [[Sebastián Edwards]], particularly in studies of Latin American economies.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=3}} 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.[{{Cite book |last=Aslanidis |first=Paris |chapter=The Red Herring of Economic Populism |title=The Palgrave Handbook of Populism |editor-last=Oswald |editor-first=Michael |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=London |year=2021 |pages=245–261 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-80803-7_14 |isbn=9783030808037 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-80803-7_14 }}] 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.[{{Cite book |last=Sachs |first=Jeffrey |chapter=Social Conflict and Populist Policies in Latin America |title=Labour Relations and Economic Performance |pages=137–169 |year=2021 |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-11562-4_6 |isbn=978-1-349-11564-8 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-11562-4_6 }}][{{Cite book |last1=Dornbusch |first1=Rudiger |last2=Edwards |first2=Sebastián |title=The Macroeconomics of Populism in Latin America |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1991 |pages=1–4 |url=https://www.nber.org/books-and-chapters/macroeconomics-populism-latin-america }}]
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.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=4}} 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 [[neoliberalism|neoliberal]] policies.[{{Cite journal |last=Weyland |first=Kurt |title=Neoliberal Populism in Latin America and Eastern Europe |journal=Comparative Politics |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=379–401 |year=1999 |doi=10.2307/422236 |jstor=422236 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/422236 |url-access=subscription }}] The term "populism" is often used in this context to stigmatize heterodox economic policies, thereby narrowing space for debate.
== Possible causes ==
Over the decades, and across various theoretical approaches, populism has been associated with massification and the dissolution of social bonds. Explanations for this process vary, pointing to economic, labor, and cultural transformations, along with their subjective consequences.[{{cite journal|last1=Berman|first1=Sheri|title=The Causes of Populism in the West|journal=Annual Review of Political Science|date=11 May 2021|volume=24|issue=1|pages=71–88|doi=10.1146/annurev-polisci-041719-102503|doi-access=free}}]
=== Economic grievance ===
The economic grievance thesis argues that economic factors have contributed to the formation of a 'left-behind' precariat marked by low [[job security]], high [[Economic inequality|inequality]], and [[wage stagnation]]. On this account, the group would be more inclined to support populism.{{sfn|Inglehart|Norris|2016|p=1-2|pp=29–30|loc=Bibliography}}[{{Cite book|last1=Norris|first1=Pippa|title=Cultural Backlash: Trump, Brexit, and Authoritarian Populism|last2=Inglehart|first2=Ronald|year=2019|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-59584-1|pages=134–139|doi=10.1017/9781108595841|s2cid=242313055}}][{{Cite journal|last1=Broz|first1=J. Lawrence|last2=Frieden|first2=Jeffry|last3=Weymouth|first3=Stephen|date=2021|title=Populism in Place: The Economic Geography of the Globalization Backlash|journal=International Organization|language=en|volume=75|issue=2|pages=464–494|doi=10.1017/S0020818320000314|issn=0020-8183|doi-access=free}}] Reasons for precarity vary: in the [[Global North]], it has often been linked to a decline in living standards due to deindustrialization, [[economic liberalization]], and [[deregulation]], whereas in the [[Global South]], it tends to follow a truncated process of upward mobility, in which workers emerge from extreme poverty but remain in unstable, low-quality employment and living conditions.[{{cite book |last=Pinheiro-Machado |first=Rosana |year=2024 |editor1-last=Gabriel |editor1-first=Markus |editor2-last=Katsman |editor2-first=Anna |editor3-last=Liess |editor3-first=Thomas |editor4-last=Milberg |editor4-first=William S. |chapter=Why and How Precarious Workers Support Neo-Illiberalism |pages=59–78 |title=Beyond Neoliberalism and Neo-Illiberalism: Economic Policies and Performance for Sustainable Democracy |volume=1 |publisher=transcript |location=Bielefeld |url=https://doi.org/10.14361/978389474877 |doi=10.14361/978389474877|doi-broken-date=28 July 2026 }}] To account for these dynamics, some theories focus specifically on the effects of [[Recession|economic crises]],[{{Cite book|last=Mudde|first=Cas|title=Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe|date=2007|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-511-49203-7|location=Cambridge|pages=205–206|doi=10.1017/cbo9780511492037}}]{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=100}} or inequality,[{{Cite journal|last1=Flaherty|first1=Thomas M.|last2=Rogowski|first2=Ronald|date=2021|title=Rising Inequality As a Threat to the Liberal International Order|journal=International Organization|language=en|volume=75|issue=2|pages=495–523|doi=10.1017/S0020818321000163|issn=0020-8183|doi-access=free}}] while others emphasize globalization's role in disrupting established labor markets and fueling economic dislocation.
Macro-level evidence suggests that resentment toward outgroups tends to rise during periods of economic hardship,[{{cite book|last1=Dancygier|first1=RM.|title=Immigration and Conflict in Europe|date=2010|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, NJ|pages=}}] and economic crises have been associated with gains for far-right parties—entities frequently conflated with populist movements, though not necessarily synonymous.[{{cite journal|last1=Klapsis|first1=Antonis|title=Economic Crisis and Political Extremism in Europe: From the 1930s to the Present|journal=European View|date=December 2014|volume=13|issue=2|pages=189–198|doi=10.1007/s12290-014-0315-5|doi-access=free}}][{{cite journal|last1=Funke|first1=Manuel|last2=Schularick|first2=Moritz|last3=Trebesch|first3=Christoph|title=Going to extremes: Politics after financial crises, 1870–2014|journal=European Economic Review|date=September 2016|volume=88|pages=227–260|doi=10.1016/j.euroecorev.2016.03.006|s2cid=154426984|url=https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp5553.pdf}}] However, micro-level studies have found only limited evidence linking individual economic grievances directly to support for populist candidates or parties.[{{cite journal|last1=Betz|first1=Hans-Georg|last2=Johnson|first2=Carol|title=Against the current—stemming the tide: the nostalgic ideology of the contemporary radical populist right|journal=Journal of Political Ideologies|publisher=Informa UK Limited|volume=9|issue=3|year=2004|issn=1356-9317|doi=10.1080/1356931042000263546|pages=311–327| hdl=2440/15888|s2cid=143439884|hdl-access=free}}] Some analysts argue that such conditions—marked by fragmented identities and weak collective structures—now resemble the dynamics long observed in the Global South, where class fluidity, economic insecurity, and limited institutional integration have historically shaped populist politics.[{{cite book |last=Miguel |first=Luis Felipe |title=Democracia na periferia capitalista: impasses do Brasil |publisher=Autêntica |year=2022 |location=Belo Horizonte |isbn=9786559281435|page=75}}] Populism appeals to ''déclassé'' elements across all social strata,[{{Cite journal|date=6 November 2017|editor-last1=Rovira Kaltwasser|editor-first1=Cristóbal|editor2-last=Taggart|editor2-first=Paul|editor3-last=Espejo|editor3-first=Paulina Ochoa|editor4-last=Ostiguy|editor4-first=Pierre|title=The Oxford Handbook of Populism|journal=Oxford Handbooks Online|pages=269–270|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198803560.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-880356-0}}]
=== Cultural backlash ===
Another theory that connects the emergence of populism to transformations associated with modernity—though from a different angle—is the cultural backlash thesis.[{{cite book|last1=Norris|first1=Pippa|last2=Inglehart|first2=Ronald|title=Cultural Backlash|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=2019|isbn=978-1-108-59584-1|doi=10.1017/9781108595841|s2cid=242313055}}] According to this view, the diffusion of new ideas and values gradually challenges established norms, eventually reaching a "tipping point" that provokes a backlash from segments of the population who previously held dominant social positions—particularly older, white, less-educated men—expressed through support for right-wing populism.[{{cite book|last=Mudde|first=Cas|title=Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=2007|isbn=978-0-521-61632-4|doi=10.1017/cbo9780511492037}}] Such theories are particularly popular with sociologists and with political scientists studying industrial world and American politics.[{{cite journal|last1=Craig|first1=Maureen A.|last2=Richeson|first2=Jennifer A.|title=On the Precipice of a 'Majority-Minority' America: Perceived Status Threat From the Racial Demographic Shift Affects White Americans' Political Ideology|journal=Psychological Science|date=June 2014|volume=25|issue=6|pages=1189–1197|doi=10.1177/0956797614527113|pmid=24699846|s2cid=28725639|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614527113|url-access=subscription}}][{{cite journal|last1=Mutz|first1=Diana C.|title=Status threat, not economic hardship, explains the 2016 presidential vote|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|date=8 May 2018|volume=115|issue=19|pages=E4330–E4339|doi=10.1073/pnas.1718155115|pmid=29686081|pmc=5948965|bibcode=2018PNAS..115E4330M|doi-access=free}}] Although much of this work has focused on white identity politics, similar patterns are observed among other groups that perceive themselves as marginalized.[{{cite journal|last1=Outten|first1=H. Robert|last2=Schmitt|first2=Michael T.|last3=Miller|first3=Daniel A.|last4=Garcia|first4=Amber L.|title=Feeling Threatened About the Future: Whites' Emotional Reactions to Anticipated Ethnic Demographic Changes|journal=Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin|date=January 2012|volume=38|issue=1|pages=14–25|doi=10.1177/0146167211418531|pmid=21844094|s2cid=26212843|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0146167211418531|access-date=24 August 2021|url-access=subscription}}][{{cite journal|last1=Taijfel|first1=H|title=Experiments in intergroup discrimination.|journal=Scientific American|date=November 1970|volume=223|issue=5|pages=96–102|doi=10.1038/scientificamerican1170-96|pmid=5482577|bibcode=1970SciAm.223e..96T}}]
=== Post-democracy ===
Various authors have presented populism as a response, reaction, or symptom of [[post-democracy]].[{{cite book |last=Mouffe |first=Chantal |title=For a Left Populism |year=2018 |publisher=Verso |location=London |page=4}}] Post-democracy refers to a condition in which the formal institutions of liberal democracy—elections, parties, and representative government—continue to exist, but their functioning is increasingly dominated by elites, [[technocracy|technocratic]] decision-making, and market forces.
Populism is therefore often understood as a reaction to the narrowing of political choice, the decline of responsive, representative governance, and the resulting gaps in political representation.[{{Cite journal |last=Günther |first=Laurenz |date=2022 |title=Political Representation Gaps in Europe: Causes and Consequences |url=https://www.ssrn.com/abstract=4230288 |journal=SSRN Electronic Journal |language=en |doi=10.2139/ssrn.4230288 |issn=1556-5068}}] Scholars offer various explanations for this development. One perspective holds that these dynamics are especially pronounced in societies where civil society is weak or in decline—a condition that some scholars view as historically characteristic of the Global South, where populism has been more recurrent, but which is increasingly visible in the Global North as well.[{{cite book|last1=Steinmo|first1=Sven|last2=Thelen|first2=Kathleen|last3=Longstreth|first3=Frank|title=Structuring politics : historical institutionalism in comparative analysis|date=1992|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-42830-9}}][{{cite journal|last=Wilkin|first=Peter|title=Rip It Up and Start Again: The Challenge of Populism in the Twenty-First Century|journal=Journal of World-Systems Research|publisher=University Library System, University of Pittsburgh|volume=24|issue=2|date=14 August 2018|issn=1076-156X|doi=10.5195/jwsr.2018.855|pages=314–324|s2cid=150004828|url=https://jwsr.pitt.edu/ojs/jwsr/article/download/855/1161| doi-access=free}}] In terms of the [[median voter theorem]], such clustering around the median can leave voters at the margins of the [[political spectrum]] feeling unrepresented, thereby opening space for populist challengers.[{{Cite journal |last1=Acemoglu |first1=Daron |last2=Egorov |first2=Georgy |last3=Sonin |first3=Konstantin |date=2013 |title=A Political Theory of Populism |url=https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/128/2/771/1942304 |journal=The Quarterly Journal of Economics |language=en |volume=128 |issue=2 |pages=771–805 |doi=10.1093/qje/qjs077 |issn=0033-5533}}]
Authors have pointed out that the design of political systems can also influence the perception of distance between representatives and represented, and shape the conditions under which populism emerges. Low levels of [[political efficacy]] and high proportions of [[wasted vote]]s are associated with increased support for populist alternatives.[{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/1475-6765.12374|title=Empowered and enraged: Political efficacy, anger and support for populism in Europe|year=2020|last1=Rico|first1=Guillem|last2=Guinjoan|first2=Marc|last3=Anduiza|first3=EVA|journal=European Journal of Political Research|volume=59|issue=4|pages=797–816|s2cid=213404031|url=https://ddd.uab.cat/pub/artpub/2020/259034/eurjoupol_a2020v59n4p797iENG_postprint.pdf}}] In the United States, mechanisms such as [[gerrymandering]], [[lobbying]], and opaque campaign financing contribute to the perception that government is unresponsive to the majority. In the European Union, the transfer of policy authority to technocratic and supranational bodies—such as the European Central Bank—can distance decision-making from voters, further intensifying democratic disaffection.[{{cite book|last1=Tucker|first1=Paul M. W.|title=Unelected Power : the Quest for Legitimacy in Central Banking and the Regulatory State|date=2019|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, New Jersey|isbn=978-0-691-19698-5}}] Likewise, widespread corruption scandals can deepen the sense that political elites are self-serving and out of touch with ordinary citizens, which can increase support for populist movements.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=100}}
=== Media transformation ===
{{Further|topic=the role of the mass media in the emergence of populism|Mediatization (media)}}
Several scholars have linked the rise of populism to transformations in media and communication dynamics. Since the late 1960s, the spread of television has contributed to the personalization of politics, favoring charismatic leadership over party-centered politics—an approach frequently associated with populism.{{sfn|Mudde|2004|p=553}} Populist leaders have often made strategic use of mass media to cultivate a sense of direct connection with their audiences, relying on unfiltered communication to strengthen their legitimacy. In various regions, broadcast formats have historically been used to bypass intermediaries and appeal to constituencies traditionally marginalized by elite discourse.{{sfn|Foweraker|2003|p=105}}
Some scholars argue that media ownership and market dynamics have further accentuated these trends. As private media companies competed for audiences, they increasingly prioritized [[sensationalism]] and political scandal, fostering anti-establishment sentiment and public cynicism toward government institutions. Media outlets, driven by commercial imperatives, have also been said to contribute to the dissemination of populist rhetoric by providing disproportionate coverage to controversial figures, thereby amplifying their visibility and normalizing transgressive discourse. This dynamic has been observed across a range of media systems, including [[tabloid journalism|tabloids]] and even elements of the [[quality press]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mudde|1y=2004|1p=553|2a1=Mudde|2a2=Rovira Kaltwasser|2y=2017|2pp=103–104}}{{sfn|Akkerman|2011|pp=932,942}}
In the digital era, scholars have argued that social media platforms have further reshaped political communication in ways that favor populist discourse.{{sfn|Moffitt|2016|p=89}} These platforms have been described as having "[[Elective_Affinities#References_in_culture_and_theory|elective affinities]]" with populism, as they bypass traditional [[gatekeeping (communication)|gatekeeping]] mechanisms and foster the impression that political authority and legitimacy now rest directly with the people.[{{cite journal |last=Gerbaudo |first=Paolo |title=Social Media and Populism: An Elective Affinity? |journal=Media, Culture & Society |volume=40 |issue=5 |pages=745–753 |date=2018 |doi=10.1177/0163443718772192 |s2cid=149856507 |url=https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/a7b25009-b214-416d-84fb-f494c2f61895 }}] Furthermore, political communication on these platforms tends to rely on fragmentation and conflict-driven narratives, which may amplify populist messages.{{sfn|Stier|Posch|Bleier|Strohmaier|2017|p=1365}}
== Mobilization ==
Several authors have examined populism as a form of political mobilization that incorporates previously invisible or marginalized sectors into the political arena.[{{cite journal |last=Jansen |first=Robert S. |year=2011 |title=Populist Mobilization: A New Theoretical Approach to Populism |journal=Sociological Theory |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=75–96 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9558.2011.01388.x |url=https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9558.2011.01388.x|hdl=2027.42/112280 |hdl-access=free }}]{{sfn|Dean|Maiguashca|2020|pp=9–10}}{{sfn|Zicman de Barros|Aiolfi|2025a|p=6}} However, the specific forms that this mobilization takes remain a subject of debate in the literature. While some scholars argue that populism is inherently tied to the figure of a charismatic leader,{{sfn|Urbinati|2019|p=5}} others contend that it can manifest in three distinct but sometimes coexisting forms: the populist leader, the populist political party, and the populist social movement.{{sfn|Gagnon|Beausoleil|Son|Arguelles|2018|p=vi}}
=== Leaders ===
{{See also|Demagogue}}
Populism is frequently associated with charismatic leadership.{{sfn|Laclau|2005|p=100}}{{sfn|Tormey|2018|p=268}} In an era of increasingly personalized politics, the success and longevity of populist movements often depend on leaders’ personal charisma and individual appeal.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=43}}[{{cite journal |last1=Pappas |first1=Takis |title=Are Populist Leaders 'Charismatic'? The Evidence from Europe |journal=[[Constellations (journal)|Constellations]] |date=8 August 2016 |volume=23 |issue=3 |page=378-390 |doi=10.1111/1467-8675.12233 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8675.12233}}] Such leaders claim to represent "the people" and, in many cases, portray themselves as the embodiment of the people—as the ''vox populi'', or "voice of the people."{{sfn|de la Torre|2017|pp=197, 204}}
Drawing on Margaret Canovan's insight that populists often employ undiplomatic rhetoric and a tabloid style that contrasts with institutional norms,{{sfnm|1a1=Canovan|1y=1984|1pp=312–327|2a1=Canovan|2y=1999|2p=5|3a1=Canovan|3y=2004|3p=242}} scholars from sociocultural and performative approaches have emphasized the theatrical and stylistic dimensions of populist leadership.{{sfnm|1a1=Ostiguy|1y=2017|1pp=78–81|2a1=Moffitt|2y=2016|2p=59}} While genuine political outsiders are relatively rare,[{{cite journal | last1=De Cleen | first1=Benjamin | last2=Ruiz Casado | first2=José A. | title=Populism of the Privileged: On the Use of Underdog Identities by Comparatively Privileged Groups | journal=Political Studies | volume=72 | issue=3 | pages=1005–1025 | year=2023 | doi=10.1177/00323217231160427 | url=https://biblio.vub.ac.be/vubir/populism-of-the-privileged-on-the-use-of-underdog-identities-by-comparatively-privileged-groups(35d6411f-7a6f-4e72-9642-36125835eaba).html }}] populist leaders often perform a form of outsiderness to construct authenticity and distinguish themselves from "suited elites" and professional politicians.{{sfn|Resnick|2017|p=110}} The literature highlights the transgressive nature of this performance, noting that it can take multiple, overlapping forms: interactional, rhetorical, and theatrical.{{sfnm|1a1=Aiolfi|1y=2022|1pp=7–9|2a1=Aiolfi|2y=2025|2p=140}}
Interactional transgressions refer to the ways populist leaders violate conventional norms of interpersonal conduct—employing personal insults, invading personal space, using provocative gestures, or making suggestive innuendos—to create a confrontational political presence.{{sfn|Aiolfi|2025|pp=141–150}} Scholars from the ideational approach link such behavior to populism's underlying moral framework, which constructs politics as a struggle between a virtuous people and corrupt elites, framing critics and opponents as "enemies of the people."{{sfn|Albertazzi|McDonnell|2008|p=7}}
Rhetorical transgressions include a rejection of the polished, technocratic language typical of establishment politicians. Populist speech often favors simplicity, directness, or even vulgarity—aligning with the populist emphasis on authenticity. Populist figures may adopt the persona of the "''[[Common Man's Front|uomo qualunque]]''" (common man), using informal or crude speech.{{sfn|Ostiguy|2017|p=73}} Ethnic identity can likewise be mobilized: leaders such as [[Evo Morales]] and [[Alberto Fujimori]] used their non-white heritage to position themselves in contrast to historically white-dominated elites.{{sfn|de la Torre|2017|p=198}} Others have drawn on indigenous or vernacular languages in public speech, symbolically rejecting elite or colonial norms.{{sfn|Resnick|2017|p=110}} Gendered performances also shape populist transgressive rhetoric. Male populists may emphasize virility or dominance—[[Umberto Bossi]]’s obscene gestures or [[Silvio Berlusconi]]’s sexual boasts are emblematic—while female populists often present themselves as protective maternal figures, such as [[Sarah Palin]]’s "[[mama grizzly]]" persona or [[Pauline Hanson]]’s claim to care for Australia "like a mother."{{sfnm|1a1=Moffitt|1y=2016|1p=66|2a1=Mudde|2a2=Rovira Kaltwasser|2y=2017|2pp=64}} Performative scholars such as Casullo have argued that this transgressive style not only affirms ordinariness but also incorporates performances of extraordinariness.{{sfnm|1a1=Casullo|1y=2021|1pp=78, 80|2a1=Moffitt|2y=2016|2pp=65–66}} For instance, [[Cristina Fernández de Kirchner]] and [[Eva Perón]] used glamorous fashion not to signal simplicity but to project aspirational ideals and popular empowerment.{{sfnm|1a1=Casullo|1y=2021|1pp=85–86|2a1=Mudde|2a2=Rovira Kaltwasser|2y=2017|2pp=70}}
Theatrical transgressions involve a refusal to conceal the performative nature of political life. While mainstream politicians typically mask the staged aspects of their public appearances, populist leaders often foreground them. [[Donald Trump]], for example, frequently made metapolitical asides during U.S. presidential debates, mocking rhetorical conventions and drawing attention to their formulaic nature.{{sfnm|1a1=Aiolfi|1y=2022|1pp=8–9|2a1=Aiolfi|2y=2025|2pp=159–163}}
=== Political parties ===
Though some populist parties champion citizen-led [[direct democracy]] through [[popular initiative]]s,[{{cite journal | last1=Angelucci | first1=Davide | last2=Rojon | first2=Sebastien | last3=Vittori | first3=Davide | title=Do populist parties promote direct democracy? An empirical assessment in 29 countries in the last two decades | journal=Contemporary Politics | volume=30 | issue=4 | date=7 August 2024 | issn=1356-9775 | doi=10.1080/13569775.2023.2296748 | doi-access=free | pages=473–493 | hdl=2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/372069 | url=https://dipot.ulb.ac.be/dspace/bitstream/2013/372069/3/Angelucci.pdf | access-date=26 July 2025}}] populism does not reject party-based parliamentary representation entirely. Rather, it seeks to redefine it by privileging figures who claim to speak authentically for "the people."{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=51}} Populist political parties often emerge around a charismatic leader, adopting top-down structures that concentrate decision-making and symbolic authority in a single figure.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=51}} These parties function as vehicles for personal leadership, reinforcing the central role of the leader in mobilizing support and framing political identity. Leadership transitions can be pivotal: some parties, like Argentina's [[Justicialist Party]] and Venezuela's [[United Socialist Party of Venezuela|United Socialist Party]] (PSUV), maintained cohesion after the deaths of their founding figures, while others fractured.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=56}}
Sometimes, rather than founding new parties, populists overtake existing ones, as seen with the [[Freedom Party of Austria]] (FPÖ) and the [[Swiss People's Party]] (SVP).{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=55}} In other cases, established parties undergo a gradual populist transformation. A notable example is the Greek party [[SYRIZA]], which between 2012 and 2015 evolved from a radical left-wing party primarily appealing to "the left" and then "the youth," to one that claimed to represent "the people." This transformation was marked not only by changes in speeches but also by increasingly transgressive performances by its leaders, who, once in power, broke with conventional political decorum.[{{cite book |last=Venizelos |first=Giorgos |title=Populism in Power: Discourse and Performativity in SYRIZA and Donald Trump |year=2023 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |pages=48, 106 |doi=10.4324/9781003351634 |isbn=978-1-003-35163-4 |url=https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003351634}}] Such transformations may reflect a broader pattern of diffusion within party systems. A cross-national study drawing on expert-coded party data found that parties become more likely to adopt populist rhetoric in subsequent electoral cycles when it is more prevalent among their competitors, with anti-elitist and people-centered appeals spreading most strongly and right-leaning parties showing the greatest responsiveness.{{sfn|Surdea-Hernea|2025}} Populist electoral success also appears to reshape the structure of party systems themselves. A cross-national panel study of electoral democracies between 1970 and 2020 found that stronger populist performance was followed by more concentrated party systems with fewer effective parties, an effect attributed to the delegitimation of moderate positions, polarisation crowding out centrist parties, and entry barriers facing new challenger.{{sfn|Surdea-Hernea|Golosov|2026}}
As the case of SYRIZA illustrates, the boundaries between political parties and social movements can be fluid. While SYRIZA eventually became a major institutional actor, its early trajectory was deeply intertwined with [[Anti-austerity movement in Greece|grassroots mobilizations against austerity]].[{{cite book |last=Katsambekis |first=Giorgos |title=The Populist Radical Left in Europe |editor1-last=Katsambekis |editor1-first=Giorgos |editor2-last=Kioupkiolis |editor2-first=Alexandros |chapter=The Populist Radical Left in Greece: Syriza in Opposition and in Power |pages=24–28 |publisher=Routledge |year=2019 |doi=10.4324/9781315180823-2 |isbn=9780367731175|chapter-url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315180823-2/populist-radical-left-greece-giorgos-katsambekis}}] Other populist parties have emerged even more directly from mass movements seeking to channel grassroots discontent into formal politics. The Spanish party [[Podemos (Spanish political party)|Podemos]], for example, was founded in the wake of the [[Anti-austerity movement in Spain|Indignados movement]], while India's [[Aam Aadmi Party]] grew out of the India Against Corruption campaign.{{sfnm|1a1=Mudde|1a2=Rovira Kaltwasser|1y=2017|1pp=56–57|2a1=Tormey|2y=2018|2pp=266–67}} These examples illustrate how populist energy can flow between civil society and electoral arenas—a phenomenon further explored in the context of grassroots populist movements.
=== Social movements ===
The wave of mass protests that followed the 2008 financial crisis has often been characterized as a populist phenomenon. Although differing in context, tone, and social composition, these mobilizations shared a rejection of established political elites, emphasized the moral authority of "the people," and advanced demands for more inclusive and participatory forms of democracy. The [[Occupy movement]] in the United States, the Indignados movement in Spain, the anti-austerity protests in Greece, and the [[Gilets jaunes]] (Yellow Vests) in France all combined anti-elite rhetoric with horizontal experiments in democratic organization.[{{cite book |last=Gerbaudo |first=Paolo |year=2017 |title=The Mask and the Flag: Populism, Citizenism and Global Protest |location=London |publisher=Hurst & Company |url=https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/the-mask-and-the-flag/}}][{{cite journal |last=Gerbaudo |first=Paolo |year=2022 |title=From Occupy Wall Street to the Gilets Jaunes: On the Populist Turn in the Protest Movements of the 2010s |journal=Capital & Class |volume=47 |pages=107–124 |doi=10.1177/03098168221137207 |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/03098168221137207|url-access=subscription }}] Symbolic slogans such as "We are the 99%" captured the populist framing of these protests, portraying a voiceless majority in opposition to a privileged elite. Although they shared common traits, the social base and geographical focus of these mobilizations varied: while earlier protests were often concentrated in urban hubs, the Gilets jaunes mobilized primarily rural and peri-urban populations, voicing the grievances of what was sometimes called "''la France oubliée''" (forgotten France).[{{cite journal |last=Ietter |first=Salomé |year=2025 |title=Back to Class? The Populism of the "Gilets Jaunes" |journal=Journal of Political Ideologies |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=414–433 |doi=10.1080/13569317.2025.2449868 |doi-access=free }}][{{cite journal |last=Zicman de Barros |first=Thomás |year=2023 |title=Les différents populismes des Gilets jaunes: une approche psychosociale |journal=Nouvelles Perspectives en Sciences Sociales |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=239–278 |doi=10.7202/1110058ar |doi-access=free }}]
These grassroots mobilizations, whether or not they evolved into lasting political structures, exerted a profound influence on electoral politics and public discourse. They reshaped political agendas, introduced new rhetorical styles centered on anti-elitism and citizen empowerment, and forced established actors to respond to new forms of popular expression. In Spain and Greece, protest movements reconfigured political debates around austerity and democratic renewal. In the United States, the [[Occupy Wall Street]] movement influenced the language and priorities of [[Bernie Sanders]]’ [[Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign|2016 presidential campaign]], particularly its emphasis on economic inequality and corporate power. Conversely, right-wing populist energy found expression through the [[Tea Party movement]], which contributed to shifting the Republican Party toward a more anti-establishment posture and paved the way for the rise of [[Donald Trump]].{{sfn|Hawkins|Rovira Kaltwasser|2019|p=11}}
Scholars in the discursive tradition of populism studies have emphasized the complex and often reciprocal relationship between populist leaders and social movements—particularly in left-wing or socially oriented contexts. Rather than assuming a one-directional, top-down mobilization, this view highlights how leaders can contribute to the politicization and organization of civil society, and how movements, in turn, can shape and transform leadership. In Latin America, this dynamic has deep historical roots. Mid-twentieth-century leaders such as [[Juan Perón]] in Argentina and [[Getúlio Vargas]] in Brazil played a central role in organizing labor unions and incorporating subaltern sectors into national politics.{{sfnm|1a1=Germani|1y=2008|1p=68|2a1=Reis|2y=2001|2p=319}} While initially aligned with the regime, these sectors often gained autonomy and began articulating demands independently.[{{cite journal |last=Laclau |first=Ernesto |date=August 2013 |title=Argentina: anotaciones preliminares sobre los umbrales de la política |journal=Debates y Combates |issue=5 |pages=7–18}}] More recently, [[Hugo Chávez]] in Venezuela promoted participatory structures such as [[Bolivarian Circles]], Communal Councils, and Urban Land Committees.{{sfn|de la Torre|2017|p=205}} Designed to deepen popular engagement and distribute resources, these initiatives also created new networks of mobilization. A further example, noted by political theorists Paula Biglieri and Luciana Cadahia, is the role of grassroots feminist activists in Argentina, who successfully pressured the Peronist leadership to support the [[Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Bill (Argentina)|legalization of abortion]]—despite their initial opposition to the measure.{{sfn|Biglieri|Cadahia|2021|p=128}}
== Responses to populism ==
Debates around how to respond to populism reveal sharp divides between those who see it as a threat to be contained and those who view it as a symptom of deeper democratic failures. While many mainstream actors focus on defending [[liberal democracy|liberal institutions]] from populist erosion, left-wing theorists have explored how populist energies might be redirected toward egalitarian or emancipatory ends.
=== Mainstream responses ===
Among liberal scholars, a central concern has been the preservation of institutional safeguards. Authors like [[Steven Levitsky]] and [[Daniel Ziblatt]] argue that populist figures with authoritarian leanings often become viable only when traditional elites choose to accommodate them for strategic reasons. In their account, [[democratic backsliding]] typically occurs when political elites fail to uphold informal norms of mutual toleration and institutional forbearance.[{{cite book |last1=Levitsky |first1=Steven |last2=Ziblatt |first2=Daniel |title=How Democracies Die |publisher=Crown Publishing Group |year=2018 |isbn=9781524762933}}] Their approach aligns with aspects of [[elite theory]], emphasizing the responsibility of established power-holders to act as gatekeepers to safeguard democratic norms.{{sfn|Miguel|2022|p=43}}
Reflecting this logic, several European countries have adopted the strategy of a [[Cordon sanitaire (politics)|''cordon sanitaire'']], in which mainstream parties refuse to cooperate or form coalitions with populist or extremist actors, seeking to prevent their institutional legitimation.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=113}} The media, too, can play a crucial role in either reinforcing or undermining these gatekeeping efforts. In some contexts, media institutions have amplified populist narratives or provided favorable coverage, while in others they have attempted to marginalize such movements. Additionally, some scholars note that when mainstream actors adopt elements of the populist style—such as anti-elitist rhetoric—they may inadvertently contribute to the normalization of populism rather than containing it.[{{cite journal |last=Bossetta |first=Michael |date=2017 |title=Fighting fire with fire: Mainstream adoption of the populist political style in the 2014 Europe debates between Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage |journal=The British Journal of Politics and International Relations |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=715–734 |doi=10.1177/1369148117715646 |url=https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/29359eeb-b811-40e8-b9d0-c57853f747cd }}]
Related to this is the concept of [[militant democracy]] or defensive democracy, originally articulated by [[Karl Loewenstein]] in the 1930s. Loewenstein argued that liberal democracies must sometimes take exceptional restrictive measures that might seem arbitrary and limit certain freedoms to defend themselves against actors who exploit democratic procedures to undermine democratic substance—a concern that also resonates with [[Karl Popper]]’s [[paradox of tolerance]].[{{cite journal |last=Loewenstein |first=Karl |title=Militant Democracy and Fundamental Rights I |journal=American Political Science Review |volume=31 |issue=3 |year=1937 |pages=417–432 |doi=10.2307/1948164|jstor=1948164 }}][{{cite journal |last=Loewenstein |first=Karl |title=Militant Democracy and Fundamental Rights II |journal=American Political Science Review |volume=31 |issue=4 |year=1937 |pages=638–658 |doi=10.2307/1948664|jstor=1948664 }}] This approach has gained renewed attention in contexts such as Brazil, where the [[Supreme Federal Court (Brazil)|Supreme Court]] expanded its own procedural interpretations to investigate anti-democratic activities after the [[Prosecutor General of the Republic (Brazil)|Prosecutor General's Office]] had been politically aligned with then-president [[Jair Bolsonaro]]. These actions were justified as necessary to uphold the rule of law in the face of institutional capture.[{{cite journal |last=Vilhena Vieira |first=Oscar |title=O STF e a defesa da democracia no Brasil |journal=Journal of Democracy em Português |volume=12 |issue=1 |year=2023 |pages=7–55}}] A similar logic has been invoked in [[Romania]], where legal and institutional efforts to constrain far-right movements have [[2024–2025 Romanian election annulment protests|prompted public controversy]] over how far democracies can go in defending themselves without compromising pluralism and political freedom.[{{cite journal |last=Popescu |first=Andrei |title=Militant Democracy in Romania: Constitutional Limits and Political Challenges |journal=East European Politics and Societies |volume=39 |issue=2 |year=2025 |pages=123–145 |doi=10.1007/s40803-025-00245-8|doi-access=free }}][{{cite journal |last=Ionescu |first=Maria |title=The Romanian Constitutional Court Doing "Militant Democracy": Between Judicial Activism and Democratic Defense |journal=Journal of Constitutional Law in Central and Eastern Europe |volume=7 |issue=1 |year=2025 |pages=67–89 |doi=10.1080/25739638.2025.2482401}}]
Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser, while critical of populism, caution against the widespread liberal impulse to disqualify populists as "irrational," "immoral," or "foolish." In their view, such discursive strategies often play into the hands of populists, reinforcing the binary logic—"the pure people" versus "the corrupt elite"—on which they believe populism thrives.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=116}} Rather than moralizing condemnation, they advocate for sustained engagement with populist supporters and arguments, alongside a principled defense of liberal democratic values.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=118}}
=== Left populist responses ===
From the perspective of [[left-wing populism|left populism]], the rise of reactionary populist movements is often interpreted as a response to a broader [[anti-politics|anti-political]] sentiment—a rejection of technocratic consensus, elite detachment, and social abandonment. Thinkers such as [[Chantal Mouffe]] argue that this dissatisfaction should not be left in the hands of the right, but rather reappropriated through a left populist project that mobilizes passion for democratic and egalitarian ends.{{sfn|Mouffe|2018}}
However, there are strategic disagreements among left populists. Some scholars suggest that left movements must engage with national identity and reduce emphasis on minority-focused policies to reconnect with disaffected working-class constituencies.[{{cite journal |last1=Rojas-Andrés |first1=Raúl |last2=Mazzolini |first2=Samuele |last3=Custodi |first3=Jacopo |title=Does Left Populism Short-Circuit Itself? Podemos in the Labyrinths of Cultural Elitism and Radical Leftism |journal=Journal of Contemporary European Studies |year=2024 |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=960–977 |doi=10.1080/14782804.2023.2269375}}] This perspective underlies proposals for a left populism that emphasizes cultural belonging and national sovereignty alongside economic redistribution, as seen in the positions of German politician [[Sahra Wagenknecht]], who has criticized the left for abandoning "ordinary people" in favor of urban progressive elites.[{{cite book |last=Wagenknecht |first=Sahra |title=Die Selbstgerechten: Mein Gegenprogramm – für Gemeinsinn und Zusammenhalt |publisher=Campus Verlag |year=2021}}] In contrast, other scholars warn that such strategies risk reproducing far-right framings without yielding electoral gains. They instead advocate for intersectional alliances rooted in solidarity among marginalized groups, grounded in inclusive democratic values.[{{Cite journal |last1=Zicman de Barros |first1=Thomás |last2=Aiolfi |first2=Théo |title=From Sovereignty to Créolisation: Populist Strategies and the Mélenchon-Ruffin Split. A Response to Rojas-Andrés, Mazzolini, and Custodi |journal=Journal of Contemporary European Studies |year=2025 |volume=33 |issue=4 |page=12 |doi=10.1080/14782804.2025.2520245 |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/14782804.2025.2520245 |ref=ZicmanAiolfi2025b}}] These debates are shaped by national contexts, electoral systems, and the particular forms populism takes in different settings.{{sfn|Zicman de Barros|Aiolfi|2025b|pp=15–16}}
== History ==
Whereas populism is generally considered a modern phenomenon, and the term itself only appeared in the late nineteenth century, some scholars have attempted to identify earlier manifestations of populist politics. Populism has thus been retrospectively associated with the democracy of classical Athens,[{{cite journal|last1=Adamidis|first1=Vasileios|title=Manifestations of populism in late 5th century Athens|journal=New Studies in Law and History|date=2019|pages=11–28}}] with the [[Levellers]] of seventeenth-century England, who have sometimes been labelled "populists" because of their belief that equal natural rights should shape political life,{{sfn|Foxley|2013|p=207}}{{clarify|date=June 2019}} and with movements such as the [[Protestant Reformation]].[{{cite book|first= Andrew|last= Pettegree|title= The Reformation: Critical Concepts in Historical Studies|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=HDC_veJaoQ8C&pg=PA153|year= 2004|publisher= Taylor & Francis|page= 153|isbn= 978-0-4153-1668-2|access-date= 15 June 2018|archive-date= 28 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190828224336/https://books.google.com/books?id=HDC_veJaoQ8C&pg=PA153|url-status= live}}][{{cite book|first=Carter|last=Lindberg|title=The European Reformations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4cTb-zKfjS8C&pg=PA21|year=2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|page=21|isbn=978-1-4443-6086-8|access-date=15 June 2018|archive-date=28 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190828224339/https://books.google.com/books?id=4cTb-zKfjS8C&pg=PA21|url-status=live}}
]
=== Europe ===
{{main|Populism in Europe}}
In the late 19th century Russian Empire, the ''[[narodnichestvo]]'' movement emerged, championing the cause of the peasantry against governing elites.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=32}} Although it failed to achieve its aims, it is widely regarded as the first populist movement and inspired the Russian revolutions as well as other agrarian movements across eastern Europe in the early 20th century.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=33}}{{sfn|Eatwell|2017|p=366}}
In German-speaking Europe, the [[völkisch movement]] has often been characterised as populist due to its exaltation of the German people and anti-elitist attacks on capitalism and Jews.{{sfn|Eatwell|2017|p=366}} In France, the [[Georges Ernest Boulanger|Boulangist movement]] similarly employed populist rhetoric and themes.{{sfn|Eatwell|2017|pp=366–367}}
In post-war Europe, a number of right-wing populist parties emerged across the continent.{{sfn|Mudde|2004|p=548}} These developments largely reflected a conservative agrarian backlash against the growing centralisation and politicisation of the agricultural sector.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=34}} Examples include [[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 (Netherlands)|Farmers' Party]] in the Netherlands during the 1960s, and [[Mogens Glistrup]]'s [[Progress Party (Denmark)|Progress Party]] in 1970s Denmark.{{sfn|Mudde|2004|p=548}} Few of these actors explicitly identified themselves as populists, although the French far-right activist [[François Duprat]] notably described the extreme right as "populist".[{{cite book |last1=Camus |first1=Jean-Yves |last2=Lebourg |first2=Nicolas |title=Les droites extrêmes en Europe |publisher=Seuil |location=Paris |year=2015 |page=211 |isbn=978-2-02-109086-4}} citing {{cite journal |last=Duprat |first=François |title=Le Néofascisme en Occident, II, Amérique latine |journal=Supplément à la Revue d'histoire du fascisme |issue=13 |date=November 1975 |page=25}}]
Following the [[fall of the Soviet Union]] and the collapse of the [[Eastern Bloc]] in the early 1990s, populism rose across much of Central and Eastern Europe.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=35}} The Czech [[Civic Forum]] party, for example, campaigned with the slogan "Parties are for party members, Civic Forum is for everybody".{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=36}} Many populists in the region argued that the transition to liberal democracy had failed to produce a "real" revolution and claimed to represent the forces seeking such change.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=37}}
At the turn of the 21st century, populist rhetoric and movements became increasingly visible in Western Europe.{{sfnm|1a1=Mudde|1y=2004|1p=550|2a1=Albertazzi|2a2=McDonnell|2y=2008|2p=2}} Such rhetoric was often employed by opposition parties and was again largely associated with the political right.[{{Cite book|last1=Zienkowski|first1=Jan|title=Imagining the peoples of Europe. Populist discourses across the political spectrum|last2=Breeze|first2=Ruth|publisher=John Benjamins|year=2019|isbn=978-90-272-0348-9|location=Amsterdam}}] The term came to refer both to far right groups such as Jörg Haider's FPÖ in Austria and Jean-Marie Le Pen's FN in France, as well as [[Silvio Berlusconi]]'s {{Lang|it|[[Forza Italia (1994)|Forza Italia]]|italic=no}} in Italy and [[Pim Fortuyn]]'s LPF in the Netherlands.{{sfn|Mudde|2004|p=549}} The populist radical right combined populism with authoritarianism and nativism.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=34}}[See: {{cite journal|last=Breeze|first=Ruth|title=Positioning "the people" and Its Enemies: Populism and Nationalism in AfD and UKIP|journal=Javnost – the Public|publisher=Informa UK Limited|volume=26|issue=1|date=30 November 2018|issn=1318-3222|doi=10.1080/13183222.2018.1531339|pages=89–104| s2cid=150034518}}] Explicit self-identification with the label has nevertheless remained relatively rare and often strategic, as the term is sometimes perceived as less stigmatizing than other ideological designations, as illustrated by [[Marine Le Pen]]'s statement that the label did not trouble her.[{{cite news |last=Robin |first=Maxime |title=Marine Le Pen: Populiste ? Le mot ne me gêne pas |work=VSD |date=11–16 November 2011 |url=https://vsd.fr/18233-marine-le-pen-populiste-le-mot-ne-me-gene-pas/ |access-date=5 February 2026}}]
Conversely, the [[Great Recession]] contributed to the rise of left-wing populist movements in parts of Europe, most notably the [[Syriza]] party in Greece and [[Podemos (Spanish political party)|Podemos]] in Spain.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=37}} These actors often expressed [[Euroscepticism]], though largely from socialist and anti-austerity perspectives rather than the nationalist framing typical of the right.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=37}} The UK [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] under [[Jeremy Corbyn]] has likewise been described as populist,[{{cite book |last=Prentoulis |first=Marina |title=Left Populism in Europe: Lessons from Jeremy Corbyn to Podemos |publisher=Pluto Press |year=2021 |doi=10.2307/j.ctv1n9dkft |jstor=j.ctv1n9dkft |isbn=978-0-7453-3763-0 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1n9dkft}}] while figures such as [[Jean-Luc Mélenchon]] have acknowledged using political strategies sometimes characterised as populist, notably during a 2012 debate with [[Chantal Mouffe]] and [[Ernesto Laclau]], even as he described the term "populism" as excessively loaded and problematic.[{{cite book |last=Cervera-Marzal |first=Manuel |title=Le populisme de gauche : Sociologie de La France insoumise |language=fr |location=Paris |publisher=La Découverte |year=2021 |isbn=9782348054921 |url=https://shs.cairn.info/le-populisme-de-gauche--9782348054921}}]
Following the [[United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, 2016|2016 UK referendum on EU membership]], in which British voters chose to leave the European Union, some commentators interpreted [[Brexit]] as a victory for populism, prompting calls by populist parties in other [[Member state of the European Union|EU countries]] for similar referendums.[{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/24/eu-faces-brexit-contagion-as-populist-parties-across-europe-call/|title=EU faces Brexit 'contagion' as populist parties across Europe call for referendums|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=24 June 2016|access-date=25 June 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624121752/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/24/eu-faces-brexit-contagion-as-populist-parties-across-europe-call/|archive-date=24 June 2016|last1=Foster|first1=Peter|last2=Squires|first2=Nick|last3=Orange|first3=Richard}}]
=== North America ===
{{main|Populism in the United States|Populism in Canada}}
{{multiple image
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In North America, populism has often been characterised by regional mobilisation and loose organisation.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=22}} 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".{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=23}} For these groups, "the people" were yeomen—small, independent farmers—while the "elite" were the bankers and politicians of the northeast.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=23}} 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".{{sfn|Tindall|1966|p=90}} 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.{{sfn|Tindall|1966|p=118}}{{sfn|Woodward|1938}}
The [[People's Party (United States)|People's Party]] of the late 19th century United States is considered to be "one of the defining populist movements";{{sfn|Mudde|2004|p=548}} its members were often referred to as the Populists at the time.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=23}} Its radical platform included calling for the nationalisation of railways, the banning of strikebreakers, and the introduction of referendums.{{sfn|Canovan|1981|p=17}} 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 United States presidential election|1896 presidential election]], the People's Party supported the [[History of the Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] candidate [[William Jennings Bryan]]; after his defeat, the People's Party's support plunged.{{sfnm|1a1=Canovan|1y=1981|1pp=17–18, 44–46|2a1=Mudde|2a2=Rovira Kaltwasser|2y=2017|2p=23}}
Other early populist political parties in the United States included the [[United States Greenback Party|Greenback Party]], the [[Progressive Party (United States, 1924)|Progressive Party of 1924]] led by [[Robert M. La Follette, Sr.]], and the [[Share Our Wealth]] movement of [[Huey P. Long]] in 1933–1935.[{{cite book|last1=Rosenstone|first1=S.J.|last2=Behr|first2=R.L.|last3=Lazarus|first3=E.H.|title=Third Parties in America: Citizen Response to Major Party Failure – Updated and Expanded Second Edition|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1984|isbn=978-0-691-02613-8}}][{{cite book|last=Formisano|first=R.P.|title=For the People: American Populist Movements from the Revolution to the 1850s|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|series=Caravan Book|year=2008|isbn=978-0-8078-8611-3}}] 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.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|pp=23–24}}
By the mid-20th century, US populism had moved from a largely [[progressivism|progressive]] to a largely [[reactionary]] stance, being closely intertwined with the [[anti-communist]] politics of the period.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=24}} In this period, the historian [[Richard Hofstadter]] and sociologist [[Daniel Bell]] compared the anti-elitism of the 1890s Populists with that of [[Joseph McCarthy]].[{{cite web|last1=Kazin|first1=Michael|title=How Can Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders Both Be 'Populist'?|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/magazine/how-can-donald-trump-and-bernie-sanders-both-be-populist.html|access-date=13 July 2016|website=The New York Times|date=22 March 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209061534/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/magazine/how-can-donald-trump-and-bernie-sanders-both-be-populist.html|archive-date=9 February 2017}}] 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.[{{Cite book|last=Lowitt|first=Richard|title=Fred Harris : his journey from liberalism to populism|date=2002|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-0-7425-2162-9|location=Lanham, Md.|oclc=48811446}}]
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]].{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=26}} The populist approach of the Occupy movement was broader, with its "people" being what it called "[[We are the 99%|the 99%]]", while the "elite" it challenged was presented as both the economic and political elites.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|pp=26–27}} The Tea Party's populism was [[producerist|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]].{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|pp=26–27}}
The [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 presidential election]] saw a wave of populist sentiment in the campaigns of [[Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, 2016|Bernie Sanders]] and [[Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016|Donald Trump]], with both candidates running on [[anti-establishment]] platforms in the Democratic and Republican parties, respectively.[{{cite news|last1=Kazin|first1=Michael|title=How Can Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders Both Be 'Populist'?|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/magazine/how-can-donald-trump-and-bernie-sanders-both-be-populist.html|access-date=25 May 2016|date=22 March 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209061534/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/magazine/how-can-donald-trump-and-bernie-sanders-both-be-populist.html|archive-date=9 February 2017|newspaper=The New York Times}}] 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.[{{cite news|last1=Litvan|first1=Laura|title=Trump and Sanders Shift Mood in Congress Against Trade Deals |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-05-17/trump-and-sanders-shift-mood-in-congress-against-trade-deals|access-date=25 May 2016|agency=Bloomberg|date=17 May 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160521215110/http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-05-17/trump-and-sanders-shift-mood-in-congress-against-trade-deals|archive-date=21 May 2016}}][{{cite web|last1=Brodwin|first1=David|title=Nobody Wins a Trade War|url=https://www.usnews.com/opinion/economic-intelligence/articles/2016-03-14/the-economic-danger-of-trumps-and-sanders-trade-proctectionism|access-date=25 May 2016|website=U.S. News & World Report|date=14 March 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513050239/http://www.usnews.com/opinion/economic-intelligence/articles/2016-03-14/the-economic-danger-of-trumps-and-sanders-trade-proctectionism|archive-date=13 May 2016}}][{{cite news|last1=Fontaine|first1=Richard|last2=Kaplan|first2=Robert D.|title=How Populism Will Change Foreign Policy|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2016-05-23/how-populism-will-change-foreign-policy|access-date=25 May 2016|website=Foreign Affairs|date=23 May 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160524105923/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2016-05-23/how-populism-will-change-foreign-policy|archive-date=24 May 2016}}][{{Cite journal |last1=Eklundh |first1=Emmy |last2=Stengel |first2=Frank A |last3=Wojczewski |first3=Thorsten |date=9 September 2024 |title=Left populism and foreign policy: Bernie Sanders and Podemos |url=https://academic.oup.com/ia/article/100/5/1899/7750271 |journal=International Affairs |language=en |volume=100 |issue=5 |pages=1899–1918 |doi=10.1093/ia/iiae137 |issn=0020-5850}}] 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.[{{cite book|last1=Cowburn|first1=Mike|editor1-last=Oswald|editor1-first=Michael T|title=The Palgrave Handbook of Populism|date=2022|publisher=Springer International Publishing|isbn=978-3-030-80803-7|pages=421–435|chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80803-7_26|chapter=Experience Narratives and Populist Rhetoric in U.S. House Primaries|doi=10.1007/978-3-030-80803-7_26|s2cid=244153720}}] [[Nativism (politics)|Nativism]] and hostility toward immigrants (especially Muslims, Hispanics and Asians) were common features.{{sfn|Mudde|2012}}
=== Latin America ===
{{Main|Populism in Latin America}}
Populism has been a recurring and influential feature of Latin American politics since the 1940s, often emerging in contexts marked by the expansion of mass politics and the entry of previously underrepresented social sectors into the political arena.{{sfn|de la Torre|2017|p=195}}{{sfn|March|2007|p=69}} Across the region, it has been associated with charismatic leadership in societies with weakly structured class systems, taking different ideological forms over time.
The first wave of Latin American populism emerged in the post-war period and lasted until the 1960s.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=28}} It was characterized by leaders who mobilized "the people" against oligarchic elites, such as [[Getúlio Vargas]] in Brazil and [[Juan Domingo Perón]] in Argentina. In Argentina, Peronism was consolidated through the mass mobilization of 17 October 1945 (the [[Loyalty Day (Argentina)|Day of Loyalty]]), often considered its founding moment, notably involving previously marginalized sectors such as the ''[[Cabecita negra|cabecitas negras]]''. Early interpretations did not rely on the concept of populism: after Perón's overthrow in 1955, [[Jorge Abelardo Ramos]] described Peronism as a form of [[Bonapartism]],[{{cite book |last=Ramos |first=Jorge Abelardo |title=Revolución y contrarrevolución en la Argentina |location=Buenos Aires |publisher=Amerindia |year=1957 |language=es}}] while [[Gino Germani]] conceptualized it as a "national-popular" movement linked to rapid modernization and the incorporation of the masses.[{{cite book |last=Amaral |first=Samuel Eduardo |year=2018 |chapter=El movimiento nacional-popular: el intercambio Germani-Lipset |title=El movimiento nacional-popular: Gino Germani y el peronismo |series=Colección de estudios de historia del peronismo |pages=51–80 |publisher=Eduntref |location=Sáenz Peña |language=es}}]
In Brazil, the term "populism" entered political vocabulary in the same period, initially used by sectors of the authoritarian right as a political accusation against Vargas, reflecting their hostility to the growing political participation of the masses. It was subsequently partially reappropriated by figures such as [[Ademar de Barros]].{{sfn|Zicman de Barros and Lago|pp=33–47}} Despite critical academic uses, the term remained largely non-pejorative until the [[1964 Brazilian coup d'état|1964 coup]]. Labor-based populism continued under [[João Goulart]] and [[Leonel Brizola]], while the right reached executive power by supporting the populist candidacy of [[Jânio Quadros]] in 1960.{{sfn|Zicman de Barros and Lago|pp=50–54}}
The second wave developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Populist leaders such as [[Carlos Menem]] in Argentina, [[Fernando Collor de Mello]] in Brazil, and [[Alberto Fujimori]] in Peru combined anti-elite rhetoric with the implementation of neoliberal reforms, often aligned with recommendations from the [[International Monetary Fund]].{{sfn|de la Torre|2017|p=199}}
The third wave began in the late 1990s and extended into the 21st century, in the so-called [[pink tide]].{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=31}} It was characterized by left-wing populist governments emphasizing social inclusion, state intervention, and opposition to economic elites. Prominent examples include [[Hugo Chávez]] in Venezuela, [[Evo Morales]] in Bolivia, and [[Rafael Correa]] in Ecuador, as well as [[Néstor Kirchner]] and [[Cristina Fernández de Kirchner]] in Argentina. In Brazil, although the [[Workers' Party (Brazil)|Workers' Party]] initially emerged in opposition to earlier forms of populism, some scholars argue that the presidency of [[Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva]] partially reactivated elements of the Vargas tradition, combining charismatic leadership, redistribution, and the incorporation of popular sectors,[{{cite book|last=Ab'Sáber|first=Tales|title=Lulismo: Carisma pop e cultura anticrítica|location=São Paulo|publisher=Hedra|year=2011|isbn=9788577152612|language=pt}}] leading some analysts to describe Lulism as a democratizing form of left-wing populism.[{{cite book |last1=Mendonça |first1=Daniel de |last2=Linhares |first2=Bianca |last3=Devenney |first3=Mark |title=Populist Politics in Contemporary Brazil: Understanding Lulism and Bolsonarism |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2026 |isbn=9781399545907 |language=en |url=https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-populist-politics-in-contemporary-brazil.html}}]
More recently, new forms of populism have emerged. The election of [[Jair Bolsonaro]] in Brazil in 2018 has been interpreted as the resurgence of a far-right populism combining anti-elite discourse, moral conservatism, and hostility to institutional mediation,[{{cite book|author=Pablo Stefanoni|title=¿La rebeldía se volvió de derecha?|location=Buenos Aires|publisher=Siglo XXI|year=2021|isbn=9789878010526|language=es}}]
=== Middle East and North Africa ===
In North Africa, populism was associated with the approaches of several political leaders active in the 20th century.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=39}} 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.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=39}} Although the [[Arab Spring]] was not a populist movement itself, populist rhetoric was present among protesters.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=40}}
In Israel, the accession of [[Menachem Begin]] to power in 1977 is often considered by some scholars to be a key moment in the emergence of right-wing populism.[{{Cite book |language=en |last=Filc |first=Dani |title=The Political Right in Israel: Different Faces of Jewish Populism |publisher=Routledge |location=London |year=2010 |isbn=9780415488303 |doi=10.4324/9780203863244 |ref=Filc 2010}}] His electoral base relied largely on social groups long relegated to the margins of Israeli society, particularly [[Mizrahi Jews]] from the Middle East and North Africa. These populations experienced social and symbolic marginalization within a system historically dominated by [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazi]] elites.[{{harvsp|Filc 2010}}][{{Cite book |language=en |last=Mizrachi |first=Nissim |title=Beyond Suspicion |publisher=University of California Press |year=2024 |pages=26–27 |url=https://webfiles.ucpress.edu/oa/9780520382862_WEB.pdf}}
][{{Cite journal |language=en |last=Peled |first=Yonathan |title=The Ascendance of Ethno-National Populism in Israel |journal=Nationalism and Ethnic Politics |year=2025 |pages=6–10 |doi=10.1080/13537113.2025.2563999}}] However, his political style is often interpreted as a shift toward a form of populism centered on criticism of political, judicial and media elites, combined with a more clearly liberal economic orientation.[{{harvsp|Filc 2010}}]
=== Sub-Saharan Africa ===
In much of Africa, populism has been a rare phenomenon.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=39}} 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.{{sfn|Resnick|2017|p=102}} 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.{{sfn|Resnick|2017|p=102}} 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".{{sfn|Resnick|2017|p=103}} Such military leaders claimed to represent "the voice of the people", used an anti-establishment discourse, and established participatory organisations through which to maintain links with the broader population.{{sfn|Resnick|2017|pp=103–104}}
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]].{{sfn|Resnick|2017|p=106}} 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.{{sfn|Resnick|2017|pp=106–107}}
=== Asia ===
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.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|pp=38–39}}
In India, earlier forms of "caste populism" were characterized by the political mobilization of lower and intermediate castes, which sought to represent historically marginalized groups as the "people" against upper-caste elites and entrenched social hierarchies. From the late 20th century onwards, however, this configuration was gradually rearticulated with the rise of the [[Hindu nationalism|Hindu nationalist]] [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP), which gained increasing power in the early 21st century under the leadership of [[Narendra Modi]] and has been described as adopting a right-wing populist position.{{sfn|McDonnell|Cabrera|2019|p=484}} Under Modi, populist discourse shifted toward a Hindu majoritarian framework that enabled the construction of a unified religious "people" across caste divisions, while often subsuming persistent inequalities and allowing socially dominant groups to project their particular interests as the general will, frequently marginalizing subaltern and minority voices.[{{cite encyclopedia |last=Nandan |first=Aniket |title=Populism and Caste in Contemporary India: Sociopolitical Pragmatisms of Caste Associations |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of New Populism and Responses in the 21st Century |publisher=Springer |year=2024 |pages=578–582 |doi=10.1007/978-981-99-7802-1_425 |isbn=978-981-99-7801-4 |url=https://link.springer.com/rwe/10.1007/978-981-99-7802-1_425}}]
=== Oceania ===
{{Further|Populism in New Zealand}}
During the 1990s, there was a growth in populism in both Australia and New Zealand.{{sfn|Mudde|Rovira Kaltwasser|2017|p=38}}
In New Zealand [[Robert Muldoon]], the [[List of Prime Ministers of New Zealand|31st Prime Minister of New Zealand]] from 1975 to 1984, had been cited as a populist.[{{cite news|last1=Cowen|first1=Tyler|title=Feisty, Protectionist Populism? New Zealand Tried That|newspaper=Bloomberg.com|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-02-13/feisty-protectionist-populism-new-zealand-tried-that|publisher=Bloomberg L.P.|access-date=18 June 2017|date=13 February 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301144234/https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-02-13/feisty-protectionist-populism-new-zealand-tried-that|archive-date=1 March 2017}}] Populism has become a pervasive trend in [[New Zealand politics]] since the introduction of the [[mixed-member proportional]] voting system in 1996.[{{cite book|last1=Roper|first1=Juliet|last2=Holtz-Bacha|first2=Christina|last3=Mazzoleni|first3=Gianpietro|title=The Politics of Representation: election campaigning and proportional representation|publisher=Peter Lang|publication-place=New York|date=2004|isbn=978-0-8204-6148-9|page=40}}][{{cite web|last1=Carmichael|first1=Kelly|title=Proportional Representation leads to right-wing populism? Really?|url=https://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/03/21/opinion/proportional-representation-leads-right-wing-populism-really|access-date=17 June 2017|website=[[National Observer (Canada)|National Observer]]|date=21 March 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920142829/http://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/03/21/opinion/proportional-representation-leads-right-wing-populism-really|archive-date=20 September 2017}}] The [[New Zealand Labour Party]]'s populist appeals in its [[New Zealand general election, 1999|1999 election]] campaign and advertising helped to propel the party to victory in that election.[{{cite book|last1=Boston|first1=Jonathan|title=New Zealand Votes: The General Election of 2002|date=2003|publisher=Victoria University Press|isbn=978-0-86473-468-6|pages=239–40|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N-ql-Xs9hhkC&pg=PA240|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171102114515/https://books.google.com/books?id=N-ql-Xs9hhkC&pg=PA240|archive-date=2 November 2017}}] [[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,[{{cite news|last=Moore|first=John|title=Political Roundup: Could anti-Establishment politics hit New Zealand?|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11746493|access-date=16 June 2017|newspaper=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|date=11 November 2016|language=en-NZ|archive-date=3 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003001031/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11746493|url-status=live}}] though in a uniquely New Zealand style.[{{cite book|last1=Landis|first1=Dan|last2=Albert|first2=Rosita D.|title=Handbook of Ethnic Conflict: International Perspectives|date=2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4614-0448-4|page=52|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-kmTe1XVcW4C&pg=PA52|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171102114515/https://books.google.com/books?id=-kmTe1XVcW4C&pg=PA52|archive-date=2 November 2017}}][{{cite web|last1=Trotter|first1=Chris|title=Chris Trotter: Winston Peters may be a populist but that does not make him NZ's Trump|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/89350598/chris-trotter-winston-peters-may-be-a-populist-but-that-does-not-make-him-nzs-trump|publisher=[[Stuff.co.nz]]|access-date=16 June 2017|date=14 February 2017|archive-date=19 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019005427/http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/89350598/chris-trotter-winston-peters-may-be-a-populist-but-that-does-not-make-him-nzs-trump|url-status=live}}]
Populism in Australia entered mainstream discussion after the [[first Trump presidency]] in the United States, in which the populist framing of a global elite was also pitched in Australia by [[Scott Morrison]], the [[Prime Minister of Australia|prime minister]] after his 'miracle' election in 2018. This mix of 'authoritarian' and 'suburban' populism included rhetoric against welfare recipients, climate change action, the media, and human rights demands.[{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Carol |title=Is Scott Morrison's Government 'authoritarian populist' with a punitive bent? |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-04/morrison-authoritarian-populist-punitative-bent/11667284 |access-date=21 May 2026 |agency=ABC News |date=4 November 2019}}] It was also described as a shift in the [[Liberal–National Coalition]] that began during the [[Howard government]] from 1996 to 2007. Despite [[Scott Morrison ministerial positions controversy|scandals]], Morrison's rhetoric was likely blunted by Australia's democratic institutions.[{{cite news |title=Populism in Australia: Morrison's 'negative globalism' rhetoric failed to change foreign policy direction |url=https://policybrief.anu.edu.au/populism-in-australia-morrisons-negative-globalism-rhetoric-failed-to-change-foreign-policy-direction/ |access-date=21 May 2026 |agency=Policy Brief |publisher=Australian National University |date=16 June 2025}}] However, populist political messaging has continued to be used after his [[Liberal Party of Australia|party's]] subsequent election losses, and has become tied with its overtaking in the polls by the far-right populist [[One Nation]] party.[{{cite news |last1=Jervis-Bardy |first1=Dan |title=From Farage to Farrer, Pauline Hanson's politics are on the march – and major parties are running scared |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/may/17/pauline-hanson-australia-nigel-farage-uk-politics-rightwing-populism-ntwnfb |access-date=21 May 2026 |agency=The Guardian |date=17 May 2026}}] In May 2026, One Nation [[2026 Farrer by-election|won its first]] lower-house seat in Parliament after the Liberal Party [[2026 Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill|deposed its incumbent leader]] in a bid to counter One Nation by appealing further to the right.
== See also ==
{{cols|colwidth=21em}}
* [[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]]
* [[Radical politics]]
* [[Reactionism]]
* [[Third party (politics)]]
* [[Tyranny of the majority]]
* [[Populist caucus]]{{colend}}
== References ==
=== Notes ===
{{reflist}}
=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
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* {{cite journal|last=Park|first=Bill|year=2018|title=Populism and Islamism in Turkey|journal=Turkish Studies|volume=19|issue=2|pages=169–175|doi=10.1080/14683849.2017.1407651|s2cid=149284223}}
* {{cite book|last=Qadir|first=Muneeb|year=2024|title=A Mad, Mad World: The Global Rise in Rightwing Populism|publisher=Daastan|isbn=978-969-696-962-4}}
* {{cite book|last=Resnick|first=Danielle|chapter=Populism in Africa|year=2017|title=The Oxford Handbook of Populism|editor1=Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser|editor2=Paul Taggart|editor3=Paulina Ochoa Espejo|editor4=Pierre Ostiguy|location=Oxford and New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=101–120|isbn=978-0-19-880356-0}}
* {{cite book|editor-last1=Rovira Kaltwasser|editor-first1=Cristóbal|editor-last2=Taggart|editor-first2=Paul A.|editor-last3=Ochoa Espejo|editor-first3=Paulina|editor-last4=Ostiguy|editor-first4=Pierre|title=The Oxford handbook of populism|date= 2019|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-884628-4|oclc=1141121440}}
* {{cite book|last=Samoylenko|first=Dmytro|title=Populism, Corruption and War: A Close Look at the Era of Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine's Politics|year=2024|url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CV42D3KR}}
* {{cite journal|last=Stanley|first=Ben|title=The Thin Ideology of Populism|journal=Journal of Political Ideologies|volume=13|issue=1|year=2008|pages=95–110|doi=10.1080/13569310701822289|s2cid=144350127}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Stier|first1=Sebastian|first2=Lisa|last2=Posch|first3=Arnim|last3=Bleier|first4=Markus|last4=Strohmaier|title=When Populists become Popular: Comparing Facebook use by the Right-Wing Movement Pegida and German Political Parties|journal=Information, Communication & Society|year=2017|volume=20|number=9|pages=1365–1388|doi=10.1080/1369118X.2017.1328519|s2cid=149324437|url=http://osf.io/96umt/|access-date=14 December 2019|archive-date=22 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222050606/https://osf.io/96umt/|url-status=live}}
* {{cite journal|last=Surdea-Hernea|first=Vlad|year=2025|title=The Populist Spiral: How Populist Rhetoric Spreads within Party Systems|journal=Party Politics|article-number=13540688251362306 |doi=10.1177/13540688251362306}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Surdea-Hernea|first1=Vlad|last2=Golosov|first2=Grigorii V.|year=2026|title=Populist Electoral Success and Party System Concentration: A Cross-National Analysis|journal=Party Politics|article-number=13540688261454105 |doi=10.1177/13540688261454105}}
* {{cite book|last=Taggart|first=Paul|title=Populism|location=Buckingham|publisher=Open University Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-335-20046-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Taggart|first=Paul|year=2002|chapter=Populism and the Pathology of Representative Politics|editor1=Yves Mény|editor2=Yves Surel|title=Democracies and the Populist Challenge|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=Basingstoke|pages=62–80|isbn=978-1-4039-2007-2}}
* {{cite book|last1=Tindall|first1=George|title=A Populist Reader|location=New York|publisher=Harper Torchbooks|year=1966}}
* {{cite journal|last=Tormey|first=Simon|year=2018|title=Populism: Democracy's ''Pharmakon''?|journal=Policy Studies|volume=39|issue=3|pages=260–273|doi=10.1080/01442872.2018.1475638|s2cid=158416086}}
* {{cite journal|last=Woodward|first=C. Vann|title=Tom Watson and the Negro in Agrarian Politics|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-southern-history_1938-02_4_1/page/14|journal=The Journal of Southern History|volume=4|issue=1|year=1938|pages=14–33|doi=10.2307/2191851|jstor=2191851}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Zaslove|first1=Andrej|first2=Bram|last2=Geurkink|first3=Kristof|last3=Jacobs|first4=Agnes|last4=Akkerman|title=Power to the People? Populism, Democracy, and Political Participation: A Citizen's Perspective|year=2021|journal=West European Politics|volume=44|issue=4|pages=727–751|doi=10.1080/01402382.2020.1776490|doi-access=free|hdl=2066/226276|hdl-access=free}}
{{refend}}
== Further reading ==
=== General ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* Abromeit, John et al., eds. ''Transformations of Populism in Europe and the Americas: History and Recent Tendencies'' (Bloomsbury, 2015). xxxii, 354 pp.
* {{cite journal|doi=10.1163/25888072-BJA10016|title=Populism and the Rule of Recognition|year=2021|last1=Adamidis|first1=Vasileios|journal=Populism|volume=4|pages=1–24|s2cid=234082341|url=http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/41806/1/1393028_Adamidis.pdf}}
* 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
* [[John Bellamy Foster|Foster, John Bellamy]]. "This Is Not Populism {{Cite web |url=https://monthlyreview.org/articles/this-is-not-populism/ |title=This is Not Populism |access-date=3 June 2017 |archive-date=1 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701173211/https://monthlyreview.org/2017/06/01/this-is-not-populism/ |url-status=bot: unknown }}" (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.
* [[Michael A. Hogg|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.
* 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.
* {{cite journal|doi=10.1111/pops.12881|title=Do Populist Leaders Mimic the Language of Ordinary Citizens? Evidence from India|year=2023|last1=Martelli|first1=Jean-Thomas|last2=Jaffrelot|first2=Christophe|journal=Political Psychology|volume=44|issue=5|pages=1141–1160|s2cid=256128025 |url=https://sciencespo.hal.science/hal-03962553 }}
* [[Alfred W. McCoy|McCoy, Alfred W]] (2 April 2017). ''The Bloodstained Rise of Global Populism: A Political Movement's Violent Pursuit of "Enemies" {{Cite web |url=http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176261/tomgram:_alfred_mccoy,_would-be_strongmen_worldwide/ |title=The Bloodstained Rise of Global Populism |date=2 April 2017 |access-date=29 October 2020 |archive-date=2 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170502015511/http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176261/tomgram:_alfred_mccoy,_would-be_strongmen_worldwide/ |url-status=bot: unknown }},'' [[TomDispatch]]
* {{cite journal|doi=10.1086/714167|title=The Radical Right and Anti-Immigrant Politics in Liberal Democracies since World War II: Evolution of a Political and Research Field|year=2021|last1=Minkenberg|first1=Michael|journal=Polity|volume=53|issue=3|pages=394–417|s2cid=235494475}}
* Morelock, Jeremiah ed. ''Critical Theory and Authoritarian Populism'' {{Cite book |last1=Morelock |first1=Jeremiah |date=2018 |url=https://www.uwestminsterpress.co.uk/site/books/e/10.16997/book30/ |title=Critical Theory and Authoritarian Populism |doi=10.16997/book30 |isbn=978-1-912656-21-9 |access-date=29 October 2020 |archive-date=29 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029150800/https://www.uwestminsterpress.co.uk/site/books/e/10.16997/book30/ |url-status=bot: unknown }}. 2018. London: University of Westminster Press.
* Müller, Jan-Werner. ''What is Populism? {{Cite web |url=http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/15615.html |title=Homepage |access-date=27 November 2016 |archive-date=21 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161121210614/http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/15615.html |url-status=bot: unknown }}'' (August 2016), Univ. of Pennsylvania Press. Also by Müller on populism: ''Capitalism in One Family {{Cite web |url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v38/n23/jan-werner-muller/capitalism-in-one-family |title=Archived copy |access-date=27 November 2016 |archive-date=27 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161127132757/http://www.lrb.co.uk/v38/n23/jan-werner-muller/capitalism-in-one-family |url-status=bot: unknown }}'' (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.
* {{cite journal|author-last=Ronderos|author-first=Sebastián|date=March 2021|title=Hysteria in the squares: Approaching populism from a perspective of desire|editor1-last=O'Loughlin|editor1-first=Michael|editor2-last=Voela|editor2-first=Angie|journal=Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society|location=[[Basingstoke]]|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|volume=26|issue=1|pages=46–64|doi=10.1057/s41282-020-00189-y|s2cid=220306519|issn=1088-0763|eissn=1543-3390}}
* {{cite book|editor=Rovira Kaltwasser, Cristóbal|title=The Oxford Handbook of Populism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X8Q9DwAAQBAJ|year=2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-880356-0|access-date=27 April 2019|archive-date=29 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029150748/https://books.google.com/books?id=X8Q9DwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}
* 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.
{{refend}}
=== Europe ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* Anselmi, Manuel, 2017. ''Populism. An Introduction'', London: Routledge.
* {{cite book |last1=Antonucci |first1=Lorenza |title=Insecurity Politics: How Unstable Lives Lead to Populist Support |date=2026 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |isbn=9780691262451 |doi=10.1515/9780691262451}}
* [[Hans-Georg Betz|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: [https://martenscentre.eu/sites/default/files/publication-files/after_the_establishment.pdf ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529085424/https://martenscentre.eu/sites/default/files/publication-files/after_the_establishment.pdf|date=29 May 2019}})
* Kriesi, H. (2014), ''The Populist Challenge'', ''West European Politics'', vol. 37, n. 2, pp. 361–378.
* [[Andrew Moravcsik|Moravcsik, Andrew]], review of Lorenza Antonucci, ''Insecurity Politics: How Unstable Lives Lead to Populist Support'', [[Princeton University Press]], 2026, 224 pp., in ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'', vol. 105, no. 3 (May/June 2026), p. 189. "This book argues that the rise of workplace and financial insecurity across Europe explains the recent gains of populist parties on both the left and the right. Antonucci, a sociologist, uses new measures and data to confirm two decades of research showing that globalization, technological change, and austerity undermine socioeconomic stability and social well-being, in turn boosting support for populist parties. The author also shows that populist voters are not, as commonly assumed, socially isolated people. Although the author correctly argues that this finding is entirely consistent with the rise of populist parties on the far left and their calls for more concerted EU social policy. this evidence does not explain why voters are flocking in greater numbers to far-right populist parties – many of which have advanced astonishingly regressive taxation and budgetary programs and hold stridently anti-EU views. Antonucci does not satisfactorily answer the question of why economic discontent pushes voters to the far right."
* Mudde, Cas. "The populist radical right: A pathological normalcy." ''West European Politics'' 33.6 (2010): 1167–1186. [https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1410039/FULLTEXT01.pdf online]
* {{cite journal|doi=10.1017/gov.2021.15|title=Populism in Europe: An Illiberal Democratic Response to Undemocratic Liberalism (TheGovernment and Opposition/Leonard Schapiro Lecture 2019)|year=2021|last1=Mudde|first1=Cas|journal=Government and Opposition|volume=56|issue=4|pages=577–597|s2cid=236286140|doi-access=free}}
* {{cite book|last=Mudde|first=C.|title=The Relationship Between Immigration and Nativism in Europe and North America|publisher=Migration Policy Institute|year=2012|url=https://emnbelgium.be/sites/default/files/publications/mpi_-_migrationpoliticalextermism.pdf|pages=14–15}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Paterson|first=Lindsay|title=Civil Society: Enlightenment Ideal and Demotic Nationalism|journal=Social Text|year=2000|volume=18|issue=4|pages=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). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256492880_Comparing_Radical-Right_Populism_in_Estonia_and_Latvia/file/5046352317d8058118.pdf online]
{{refend}}
=== Latin America ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite journal|doi=10.1177/00104140231223738|title=Populist Discourse and Public Support for Executive Aggrandizement in Latin America|last1=Bessen|first1=Brett R.|journal=Comparative Political Studies|year=2024|volume=57|issue=13|pages=2118–2151}}
* {{cite journal|doi=10.1111/hic3.12621|title=A historiography of populism and neopopulism in Latin America|year=2020|last1=Conniff|first1=Michael L.|journal=History Compass|volume=18|issue=9|article-number=e12621 |s2cid=225470570|url=https://works.bepress.com/michael_conniff/81/download/|url-access=subscription}}
* 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.
* {{cite journal|jstor=1555484|title=Changing Faces of Populism in Latin America: Masks, Makeovers, and Enduring Features|last1=Leaman|first1=David|journal=Latin American Research Review|year=2004|volume=39|issue=3|pages=312–326|doi=10.1353/lar.2004.0052|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.
* [[John Judis|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}}
* {{cite book|last1=Kindell|first1=Alexandra|first2=Elizabeth S.|last2=Demers|name-list-style=amp|title=Encyclopedia of Populism in America: A Historical Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g46dAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA704|year=2014|publisher=2 vol. ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-568-6|access-date=15 August 2015|archive-date=17 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017084111/https://books.google.com/books?id=g46dAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA704|url-status=live}}; 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. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/587483 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}}
{{refend}}
=== South Asia ===
* South Asia from the Margins: Transformations in the Political Space. United Kingdom, Taylor & Francis, 2025.
* Electoral posters in Pakistan: A Reflection of national identity, ideology or populism. (2025). Contemporary Journal of Social Science Review, 3(3), 2047–2056. https://doi.org/10.63878/cjssr.v3i3.1212
== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Britannica|470472}}
* [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-political-science/article/populist-a-database-of-populist-farleft-and-farright-parties-using-expertinformed-qualitative-comparative-classification-eiqcc/EBF60489A0E1E3D91A6FE066C7ABA2CA The PopuList]: a database of populist, far-left, and far-right parties in Europe since 1989
* [https://eng.archiopedia.org/wiki/Prehistory_of_populist_constitutionalism Prehistory of populist constitutionalism]: entry on the historical roots of populist constitutionalism at Archiopedia
{{Populism}}
{{Political ideologies}}
{{Political philosophy}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Comparative politics]]
[[Category:Political ideologies]]
[[Category:Political terminology]]
[[Category:Political theories]]
[[Category:Populism| ]]