DEFINISANJE POPULIZMA: PROBLEMI I IZAZOVI
DEFINING POPULISM: PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES

Author(s): Irena Ristić
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Political Theory, Sociology of Politics, Geopolitics
Published by: Институт друштвених наука
Keywords: populism; definition of populism; elements of populism; causes of populism
Summary/Abstract: The main aim of this article was to depict the challenges related to the attempt to define populism. While commonly this term is understood as very fluid, often even used as a synonym for demagogy and opportunism, the acadmic literature has been since more then twenty years working on and elaborating a more precise definition of populism and its constituing elements. Taking the works on populism of Cas Mudde and Jan Werner Müller as a starting point this article uses their definition of populism which foresees the existence of two homogeneous units of analysis: ‘the (good) people’ and ‘the (corrupt) elite’, their antagonistic relationship and the idea of popular sovereignty. In the second section, the article gives a more indepth description of the elements which derive from the basic definition, showing what populism is and what we can say it is not. Finally in the third section this article goes into some broader explanation and causes of populism, going beyond the main stream of thought, which links the rise of populism to the decline and challenges liberal democracy is facing currently. Among them there are structural causes, but also those related to the end of the Cold war, the development of media, the role of education and the aliantaion of citizens and the political class.

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