populism | History, Facts, & Examples | Britannica

Populism, political program or movement that champions, or claims to champion, the common person, usually by favourable contrast with a real or perceived elite or establishment. Populism usually combines elements of the left and the right, opposing large business and financial interests but also frequently being hostile to established socialist and labour parties.

Campaign poster from the 1896 U.S. presidential election with the text of William Jennings Bryan's Cross of Gold speech, colour lithograph.

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history of Latin America: The advent of populism

The amorphous phenomenon of populism was another feature of the mid-20th-century political scene. Its consummate practitioner was Juan Pern...

The term populism can designate either democratic or authoritarian movements. Populism is typically critical of political representation and anything that mediates the relation between the people and their leader or government. In its most democratic form, populism seeks to defend the interests and maximize the power of ordinary citizens, through reform rather than revolution. In the United States the term was applied to the program of the Populist Movement, which gave rise to the Populist, or Peoples, Party in 1892. Many of the partys demands were later adopted as laws or constitutional amendments (e.g., a progressive tax system). The populist demand for direct democracy through popular initiatives and referenda also become a reality in a number of U.S. states.

In its contemporary understanding, however, populism is most often associated with an authoritarian form of politics. Populist politics, following this definition, revolves around a charismatic leader who appeals to and claims to embody the will of the people in order to consolidate his own power. In this personalized form of politics, political parties lose their importance, and elections serve to confirm the leaders authority rather than to reflect the different allegiances of the people. Some forms of authoritarian populism have been characterized by extreme nationalism, racism, conspiracy mongering, and scapegoating of marginalized groups, each of which served to consolidate the leaders power, to distract public attention from the leaders failures, or to conceal from the people the nature of the leaders rule or the real causes of economic or social problems. In the second half of the 20th century, populism came to be identified with the political style and program of Latin American leaders such as Juan Pern, Getlio Vargas, and Hugo Chvez. In the early 21st century, populist authoritarian regimes arose in Turkey, Poland, and Hungary, among other countries.

Juan Pern and his wife Eva in Buenos Aires on inauguration day (June 9, 1952) of his second term as president of Argentina.

The term populist is often used pejoratively to criticize a politician for pandering to a peoples fear and enthusiasm. Depending on ones view of populism, a populist economic program can therefore signify either a platform that promotes the interests of common citizens and the country as a whole or a platform that seeks to redistribute wealth to gain popularity, without regard to the consequences for the country such as inflation or debt.

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populism | History, Facts, & Examples | Britannica