Yet, it is a slippery concept that is too often used pejoratively to describe politics that those in the mainstream do not like. Watershed political events in recent years-the election of President Donald Trump in the United States (US), the Brexit vote, the electoral success of Italy’s Five Star Movement, Brazil’s sudden lurch to the right with the election of President Jair Bolsonaro, the doubling of support for populist parties across Europe-have brought the word “populism” out of the annals of academic journals and into the headlines. Whereas populism was once found primarily in emerging democracies, populists are increasingly gaining power in systemically important countries.Īnti-establishment populism was once most prevalent, but cultural populism is now the commonest form of populism across the globe. This includes countries not only in Latin America and in Eastern and Central Europe-where populism has traditionally been most prevalent-but also in Asia and in Western Europe. It finds that:īetween 19, the number of populists in power around the world has increased a remarkable fivefold, from four to 20. The report identifies 46 populist leaders or political parties that have held executive office across 33 countries between 1990 and today. Although all forms of populism rail against political elites, anti-establishment populism distinguishes itself by focusing on establishment elites as the primary enemy of the people and does not sow as many intra-society divisions. Socio-economic populism claims that the true people are honest, hard-working members of the working class, and outsiders can include big business, capital owners and actors perceived as propping up an international capitalist system.Īnti-establishment populism paints the true people as hard-working victims of a state run by special interests and outsiders as political elites. Cultural populism tends to emphasise religious traditionalism, law and order, sovereignty, and painting migrants as enemies. This report identifies three types of populism, distinguished by how populist leaders frame the conflict between the ‘true people’ and outsiders:Ĭultural populism claims that the true people are the native members of the nation-state, and outsiders can include immigrants, criminals, ethnic and religious minorities, and cosmopolitan elites. Nothing should constrain the will of the true people.Īlthough populism always shares these two essential claims, it can take on widely varying forms across contexts. This report defines populism and identifies its global prevalence by introducing a global database “Populists in Power: 1990–2018”.Ī country’s ‘true people’ are locked into conflict with outsiders, including establishment elites. Populism is dramatically shifting the global political landscape.
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