Populism Buchzusammenfassung - das Wichtigste aus Populism

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Zusammenfassung von Populism

Name: Populism
Rating: 4.2 (63 reviews)
Author: Cas Mudde and Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser

Cas Mudde and Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser

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What’s in it for me? Discover the inner workings of the political buzzword of our times – populism.

There’s no doubt you’ve heard of populism. This term is attached to the rise of right-wing parties in Europe and left-wing movements in Latin America. And then, of course, there’s the populist conservative insurgency that led to the election of Donald Trump. But how can one term describe such a wide range of political parties?

First of all, populism is less a political ideology than a political strategy. By mobilizing masses of people against so-called corrupt elites, populists are able to harness widespread grievances in society and attain political success. With populism on the rise, understanding the internal mechanisms of this political strategy has become more important than ever.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

why populism must attach itself to host ideologies;
how populist Silvio Berlusconi used accusations of sexual misconduct to his advantage; and
how the financial crisis of 2007-2008 led to a rise of populism around the world.

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 increasingly appeared in political and media discourse. Although populism is a growing political phenomenon, it is often misunderstood and treated more as a buzzword than an actual political strategy. It is used to describe political movements from both the left and the right – from Bernie Sanders’ left-wing 2016 presidential campaign to the right-wing nationalist ascendancy in Europe. But what really is populism?

We can attempt to define populism as a political worldview in which societies are split into two contrasting camps – the people and the elite. Furthermore, populism maintains that policy should be determined by the general will of the people. A populist conception of the people can have different forms – either as sovereign, common or the nation – or a combination of the three.

A populist understanding of sovereignty implies that the people themselves – and not the elite – should hold political power. Meanwhile, the portrayal of a common people revolves around a shared socioeconomic class. Finally, in the understanding of the people as a nation, the people constitute a national community. The corrupt elite stand in opposition to these differing constellations of the people. This can refer to a ruling political class, mainstream media or the wealthiest members of society.

Within the populist worldview, different components of the elite are often working to prop each other up. For example, the wealthy are seen as supportive of political elites for their own vested interests against the general will of the people. This is the final core element of populism, consisting of what the eighteenth-century philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau termed the “volonté générale,” or general will. Rousseau used this term to describe the people’s ability to come together in order to bring about change that is beneficial to them as a group.

And it is through this general will that the charismatic, populist leader comes in. This leader must be able to identify the general will of the people and also forge a community of individuals who share it.

While local contexts are key in the development of populist movements, host ideologies are equally important.

On both sides of the Atlantic, left- and right-wing populist movements command increasing attention in our public discourse.

But while many populist movements share a number of characteristics, they stem from a myriad of individual political contexts. This means they often appear very different from each other. Their distinctions are made even more apparent when examining the different host ideologies that populisms must attach to – from the socialism of left-wing populism to the nationalism of right-wing populism.

Populist leaders often use a personalist approach to mobilize supporters and attain political success.

What comes to mind when you think of a populist leader? Most likely, it’s the image of a strong, charismatic male. With some notable exceptions, nearly all successful populist leaders over the last decades have been male and have, through charisma, mobilized masses of people against elites. When successful, they have gained political power in the process. Think of Trump’s successful 2016 campaign, or Beppe Grillo’s Five Star Movement in Italy.

One way that such leaders mobilize the masses around their agendas is through personalist leadership. Such leaders claim to personify masses of disenfranchised people who are oppressed by elites. Thus, only they, the leader, can free the masses from this servitude. Nevertheless, in the liberal democracies of today, this mobilization strategy still necessitates a personalist political vehicle, or pseudo-organization that allows populist leaders to participate in elections.

To demonstrate their connection with the people, populist leaders employ a number of key characteristics.

It’s not easy to become a populist leader who is able to harness the will of the people and claim to truly represent them. In order to convince the masses that they are not part of the elite, populists attempt to represent a number of carefully crafted characteristics. The first and most obvious characteristic of a populist leader is that they must present themselves as a strong leader.

Such a leader should portray themselves as independent of established political organizations and, therefore, be able to say whatever he wants. He is then free from the restrictions that usually apply to mainstream politicians. In this way, a populist leader can demonstrate the strength of his political intention – he is willing to break away from the political norms, showing he is one of the people.

After populist attitudes are activated, they can be difficult to reverse.

As Western countries experience the rise of populism, it becomes more important than ever to identify how these attitudes are activated in the first place. The most obvious reason behind the activation of populist attitudes is, of course, the perceived failure of established political parties. After the economic downturn resulting from the 2007-2008 financial crisis, such attitudes are currently widespread.

Once an electorate feels abandoned by the politicians they elected to represent them, populists are able to easily emphasize the failure of the status quo. For example, when Greek social-democratic Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou enacted austerity policies after the financial crisis, his voters felt betrayed by the party they had brought to power. This created a fertile breeding ground for populist movements, eventually leading to the election of Syriza, backed by its left-wing anti-austerity agenda.

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Worum geht es in Populism?

Populism (2017) investigates one of the political buzzwords of our age, which is often encountered in the media and thrown around by political opponents. Populist leaders attempt to mobilize the frustrations of the masses by claiming to speak for “the people.” By placing blame for social and economic problems on a supposed “elite,” populists attempt to gain political success.

Bestes Zitat aus Populism

Personalist mobilization strategies tend to work best in states with presidential systems where the people can directly elect a powerful leader who claims he alone can combat corrupt elites.

—Cas Mudde and Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser

Wer Populism lesen sollte

Citizens concerned with the rise of populist parties around the world
Students of politics or international relations
Politicians seeking to understand the populist phenomenon

Über den Autor

Cas Mudde is a Dutch political scientist and Stanley Wade Shelton UGAF Professor at the University of Georgia. He is also the cofounder of the European Consortium for Political Research’s Standing Group on Extremism & Democracy. Other titles he’s authored include Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe and Racist Extremism in Central and Eastern Europe.

Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser is an associate professor at the School of Political Science of the Diego Portales University in Chile. His main areas of research are comparative politics and the relationship between populism and democracy.

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