Is populism democracy without liberalism? – week 10

Posted by in Week 10

Populism is a difficult work to unpack. And its connotations have probably changed significantly over time. I believe that populism is intrinsically connected to a broad public or mass attraction. As such, it might defy traditional conservative perspectives on politics as exclusionary and being relegated to a certain political class. Populism can be construed as dangerous much as social movements can be (originally analyzed by political scientists as destructive “mob” mentalities). There is definitely a paternalism from political elite when deeming these populist movements as negative or “unfit” to the…read more