Populism

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Populism

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Populism is the rhetoric and politics based on “that’s what people want”, “that’s what people know”, and “that’s what people feel”, instead of argumentation on the effect of the policies.

A populist will try to find solutions to problems “the peoples” feel like the most important ones (even if they are statistically irrelevant, and just look important because of the media), and suggest solutions that feel correct to “the peoples” (even if they are known to be wrong or ineffective).

Populists goes from people having a blind trust in democracy (if that’s what the people want, then it is a good idea) to manipulative peoples that will just use “the peoples” as a way to not have to answer to any criticism of their policy.

Trump argument of “if you impeach me, then you will face a revolution because I was democratically elected” is typically a populist argument.

At the contrary, arguments from the political center which are “that’s how economics works, so shut up unless you have a degree”, are the polar opposite of populism.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Populism is essentially a range of political views that emphasize “the people” (ordinary citizens like you and me) and oppose “the elite” (people in powerful positions in society). It can applied to left-wing movements (like Occupy Wallstreet) as well as right-wing movements (like UKIP).