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1-Page Summary of Populism

Overview

There’s no doubt you’ve heard the term “populism” attached to political movements around the world. For example, there are right-wing parties in Europe and left-wing movements in Latin America. But how is it that one word can describe such a wide range of political groups?

Populism is a political strategy where you mobilize the masses against elites that are corrupt. This strategy works well because it gives people something to rally behind and allows them to be successful. Today, populism is on the rise, so we need to understand why this happens and how it’s done.

Populism is a political movement that attaches itself to other ideologies. Silvio Berlusconi, the former Prime Minister of Italy, used accusations of sexual misconduct as a way to discredit his opponents and win elections. Financial crises often lead to a rise in populism across the world.

Big Idea #1: Populism is a political phenomenon in which the people’s interests are juxtaposed against those of the elites.

Over the last few years, the term populism has been used more often in political and media discourse. Although it’s a growing phenomenon, there is still some confusion about what exactly it means. It’s used to describe both left-wing and right-wing movements – from Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign to Donald Trump’s nationalist one. However, in order to understand populism better we need to analyze its definition as well as the factors that contribute to its success.

Populism is a political belief that society should be split into the people and the elite. Furthermore, populism maintains that policy should be determined by the general will of the people. The definition of “the people” can vary from sovereign to common or even as a nation, but they are always in opposition to an elite group.

A common understanding of sovereignty is that the people should have political power instead of an elite class. The portrayal of a common people revolves around a shared socioeconomic status, and they constitute a national community. A corrupt ruling class stands in opposition to these differing conceptions of the people.

Within the populist worldview, different components of the elite are often working to prop each other up. For example, the wealthy support political elites for their own vested interests against the general will of people. This is a core element of populism and it’s what eighteenth-century philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau called “the general will.” The general will is how people come together to bring about change that benefits them as a group.

A leader who is able to identify and communicate the general will of the people can be charismatic and have a large following.

Big Idea #2: While local contexts are key in the development of populist movements, host ideologies are equally important.

In the United States and Europe, right-wing populist movements have been gaining momentum in recent years. These movements are similar to left-wing populist movements because they share a number of characteristics, but different because they stem from individual political contexts. When examining these various populisms, it’s important to look at their host ideologies—from socialism (left wing) to nationalism (right wing).

In the 21st century, America is a country that’s divided into two groups: the Occupy Wall Street and Tea Party movements. At first glance, these two groups have much in common – they both railed against government bailouts during the Great Recession and sought to defend “Main Street” (the American people) against corrupt elites on Wall Street. However, there are some differences between them – not just political ones but also ideological ones.