The Concept of Populism. Populism in Democratic Countries

Common man is conveniently pulled towards any mode of political communication which embeds in populism. The ideal projected in populism is often contrasted against the "privileged elite" while talking about the economic and social concerns of the ordinary man through their common sense. Populism tends to be centrist in character which can shape itself towards either of the traditional left–right political spectrum in a rhetorical style to promote a variety of idealogies. It sees both bourgeois capitalists and socialist organizers as having an unfair domination in the political sphere. For instance, an increasing number of Germans no longer buy the oft-repeated declaration that Germany is a rich country. According to a study conducted by the German Institute for Economic Research, 40 percent of Germans do not earn enough money for their savings.

Despite Merkel’s claims of steady economic growth, Germany has seen income inequality continue to rise over the past few years. There are about 40,000 people classified as “super rich”. Historically also there has been a lot of variation in the academic definition of populism particularly since 1980’s. It has been a strong component of North American and Latin American political history. A school of thought in political science contends the populist mass movements as irrational since they introduce instability into the political process. In fact, most of the academic scholars have defined populism to facilitate populist identification and comparison. For instance, Daniele Albertazzi and Duncan McDonnell define populism as an ideology that "pits a virtuous and homogeneous people against a set of elites and dangerous 'others' who are together depicted as depriving (or attempting to deprive) the sovereign people of their rights, values, prosperity, identity, and voice". The people have invariably used the term in an inconsistent manner. It has been mostly referred to the appeals of demagogy and catch-all politics of the common man while maintaining the inconsistency.

The example could be taken from the rise of AfD in Germany, which had shifted its politics from anti-euro rhetoric towards anti-Islam in this era of Islamophobia or euroskeptic themes. Demagogy is merely used to empathize with the public in order to increase appeal across the political spectrum through rhetoric. It is pejoratives against its opponents. In reality, it is mostly taken as an anti-integration movement in Germany which has gradually stigmatized the Union’s politics. The day after Donald Trump’s election, The New York Times hailed German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the “Liberal West’s Last Defender.” Germany has in fact sought expiation for its sins in the past. When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to pin blame for the Holocaust on Muslims in 2015, a spokesman for Merkel responded firmly by saying, “we know that responsibility for this crime against humanity is German and very much our own.” Germany’s commitment to atonement is most obviously and creatively expressed in its monuments. For instance, of the hundreds of monuments and memorials in Germany, Berlin’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, designed by Peter Eisenman, is the most impressive.

What lead to the rise of jingoistic, xenophobic populism in Germany needs a thorough investigation? “The populist use of religion is much more about “belonging” than “belief,” and revolves around two main notions: restoration and battle. This restorationist discourse is based on a particular conception of culture as a set of codes. For populists, culture does not designate complex and historically embedded modes of producing meaning, memories, and social arrangements.” On the other hand, the populists are seen by some as largely democratic and positive force in the society by Margaret Canovan considers the arguments of both these schools of thought as faulty. She has defined two main branches of modern populism worldwide—agrarian and political—and mapped out seven dissimilar sub-categories:

Agrarian populism:

a. The radical economic agenda s of the Commodity farmer movements. Such as, the US People's Party of the late 1800's which challenged much of the social ills engendered by the "Gilded Age" monopolists.

b. The rise of the East European Green who belonged to the Subsistence peasant movements.

c. The Russian hard working peasants and farmers known as narodniki who were romanticized by the intellectuals and helped them build radical agrarian movements.

Political populism:

d. The political participation through populist movements and the use of the popular referendum.

e. A non-ideological populism by the politicians for the appeals of "the people" to build a unified coalition.

f. Populism out of reaction such as, the White backlash harvested by George Wallace,

g. The dictatorship promoted by the populists such as, established by Peron in Argentina.

Populism has also attributed itself with the ambiguity of the non-classified political parties though; the factor has traditionally diminished the value of "populism" as a group. Margaret Canovan in her study Populism has observed that, “populists rarely call themselves "populists" and usually reject the term when it is applied to them” . It differ them in that regard from those who are identified as conservatives or socialists. Similarly, rather than viewing populism in terms of specific social bases, economic programs, issues, or electorates as discussions of right-wing populism have tended to do, this type of definition is in line with the approaches of scholars such as Ernesto Laclau, Pierre-Andre Taguieff, Yves Meny and Yves Surel, who have all sought to focus on populism per se, rather than treating it simply as an appendage of other ideologies.

Populism is most common in democratic nations. Political scientist Cas Mudde wrote that "Many observers have noted that populism is inherent to representative democracy; after all, do populists not juxtapose 'the pure people' against 'the corrupt elite'?" In the United States and Latin America, populism has generally been associated with the left, whereas in European countries, populism is more associated with the right. In both, the central tenet of populism—that democracy should reflect the pure and undiluted will of the people—means it can sit easily with ideologies of both right and left. However, the leaders of populist movements in recent decades have claimed to be on either the left or the right of the political spectrum.