17 Facts About Populism

Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against "the elite".

The French far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen for instance was often accused of populism and eventually responded by stating that "Populism precisely is taking into account the people's opinion.

In 1967 a Conference on Populism was held at the London School of Economics, the participants of which failed to agree on a clear, single definition.

Author Thomas Frank has criticized the common use of the term Populism to refer to far-right nativism and racism, noting that the original People's Party was relatively liberal on the rights of women and minorities by the standards of the time.

Populism is, according to Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser, "a kind of mental map through which individuals analyse and comprehend political reality".

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Populism typically entails "celebrating them as the people", in Stanley's words.

Populism can be subdivided into "inclusionary" and "exclusionary" forms, which differ in their conceptions of who "the people" are.

Populism offers a broad identity which gives sovereignty to the previously marginalized masses as "the people".

Populism is often associated with charismatic and dominant leaders, and the populist leader is, according to Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser, "the quintessential form of populist mobilization".

Populism and strongmen are not intrinsically connected, however; as stressed by Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser, "only a minority of strongmen are populists and only a minority of populists is a strongman".

Populism is a flexible term as it can be seen to exist in both democracies as well as authoritarian regimes.

Populism can serve as a democratic corrective by contributing to the mobilisation of social groups who feel excluded from political decision making.

Such actions, Weyland argues, proves that "Populism, understood as a strategy for winning and exerting state power, inherently stands in tension with democracy and the value that it places upon pluralism, open debate, and fair competition".

Populism has often been linked to the spread of democracy, both as an idea and as a framework for governance.

Populism has been dominant in Latin American politics since the 1930s and 1940s, being far more prevalent there than in Europe.

Populism has become a pervasive trend in New Zealand politics since the introduction of the mixed-member proportional voting system in 1996.

Populism attributed this to changing perceptions of government that had spread in this period, which in turn he traced to the changing role of the media to focus increasingly on sensationalism and scandals.