Populism

What is populism? Populists tend to frame politics as a battle between the virtuous ‘ordinary’ masses and a nefarious or corrupt elite – and insist that the general will of the people must always triumph. Isn’t that what democracy is supposed to engender – the triumph of the general will of the people?

The classic definition of populism was proposed by political scientist, Cas Mudde. Populism, he says, is often combined with a “host” ideology, which can be either on the political right or political left. Populism is, in fact, as old as democracy itself, so why should this be a problem? Does it come down to simplistic binary thinking? The last 10 years have proven particularly fertile: populist leaders now govern countries with a combined population of almost two billion people, while populist parties are gaining ground in more than a dozen other democracies, many of them in Europe.

Democracy is the belief in freedom and equality between people, or a  system of  government based on this belief, in which power is held either by elected representatives or  directly by the people themselves. Democracy is also a system of government in which the citizens exercise power by voting. No consensus exists, however, on how to define democracy, but legal equality, political freedom and rule of law have been identified as important characteristics.

Populism has an important past and contemporary presence in Canadian political culture and public life. 

As a multi-faceted and highly malleable political ideology, populism mixes elements of core political ideologies, such as socialism, liberalism, neo-liberalism, and neo-conservatism, opposition to powerful “elites” in public life, and advocacy of more real power for “the people.” This focus on “grass-roots” participation makes populism an important element of political protest movements.

NOTE: Liberalism, neo-liberalism, neo-conservatism, and libertarianism were together discussed in a previous Humanist Cafe.