Populism By Dorottya Zsiboracs
Corottya is currently a first year BA International Relations student. Her principal interests are security issues, mainly conflict resolution processes, the role of diplomacy in statecraft and great power conflict. Furthermore, she is currently interning at Dryad Global, which is a maritime security risk management company.
emphasis on “us” versus “them”. Rather than exploring different types of populist movements, this paper will focus on the rise of right-wing populist movements that combine nativism and authoritarianism.
“Us” versus “them”- How many different faces does populism have?
H
ugo Chavez, the highly criticised former president of Venezuela, brought a significant democratic regression to his country by arresting government critics, manipulating electoral laws, and controlling media. Ahead of polls he propagated himself with the following sentence: “I am not an individual, I am the people” [1]. His political agenda was based on making enemies of the domestic elite, but ultimately targeted the United States as the head of an imperialist conspiracy. The recent rise of populist movements is not always as radical as the Venezuelan example; however, the continuous demise of liberal democracy witnessed partially around the globe undermines the idea of a pluralistic community of free and equal citizens [2]. The term “populism” has been broadly used since the emergence of the Populist Movement in the US in the 19th century.[3] One distinctive feature of populism irrespective of national characteristics includes a charismatic leader representing the “general will” of the people against the “corrupt elite” or “others”. [4] Nevertheless, it is hard to define populism, as it is not an ideology, but rather a style of politics structured around extreme identity politics with an
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The first issue to be addressed are the causes behind the rise and success of populist movements. As the lack of trust in the established liberal world order grows, populism is gaining ground. Establishment politicians have been accused of being incapable of solving global problems such as the financial crisis of 2008, the migration crisis of 2015 or the latest crisis caused by the coronavirus. In contrast populist leaders can use their direct line communication to the public during crises to their own advantage. Also, they aim to gain popularity by showing strong leadership, simplifying the political debate surrounding crisis resolution and displaying actions to protect ‘their’ citizens. Another factor behind the rise of populism is its ability to adapt to each new crisis and create new common enemies. [5] For example, Hungarian right-wing populism identified various enemies, such Western liberal democracies as a threat to traditional, national values; Brussel and the EU as a threat to national sovereignty; and migrants coming from other civilizations as a threat to Christian values. Moreover, in the globalised world we live in, populist leaders can succeed by promising collective action in the name of the nation and by cre-
