Populism

The term populism was first used in the nineteenth century and has since been used to describe a variety of people and movements. Although multiple definitions have been applied to the term, the basic idea involves contrasting “the people” against “the elite.” How the “people” component of that relationship is defined varies and can be based on qualifiers including class and ethnicity. Often, the people are seen as good, while the elite are viewed as corrupt and against the people as a whole. This is especially true for individuals who identify as “the people,” and who view themselves as marginalized or taken advantage of by the elite. The elite are also viewed as the establishment and are epitomized by societal institutions in the areas of economics, media, and culture. In particular, populists see the elite as serving their own interests before those of anyone else.

Populist leaders can be found on both sides of the political spectrum. Populist leaders are often incredibly charismatic and describe themselves as being the voice of the people. Their role is to mobilize the masses against those in power. Their interaction and connection with their people, whether authentic or not, is strong. When the term populism first began to be worked into language within the United States, it was in terms of promoting democracy. By the twenty-first century, populism was used in reference to any group that challenged the status quo and existing political parties. Social populism and national populism were used interchangeably with left-wing populism, which may involve elements of democratic socialism, and right-wing populism, respectively.

Not everyone views populism in terms of an us-versus-them mentality, however. Other scholars define populism as directly involving marginalized public groups in decision-making processes, especially in those processes that directly impact them. While many find this definition positive, populism also carries with it a negative connotation among some groups. In those cases, populism has even been equated to demagoguery, which similarly is viewed in a negative light. Demagogues use their charismatic personalities to appeal to make an emotional plea to their audiences, promising the people what they want and providing information in overly simplified terms. If left to rule, populist figures may assume the characteristics of an autocrat. Autocratic leaders make decisions by relying on their own instincts and needs, without consulting others first. While this does not automatically make autocratic leaders dictators, all dictators are autocratic. Many dictators embrace elements of nationalism or fascism.

Populism is not a specific form of government; rather, populism is more of a movement that seeks to change the status quo. The rhetoric or discourse surrounding the movement focuses on concretely establishing the alienation that exists between groups of people and feeds particularly on conflict between those groups. The more polarity that exists, the better. In the view of populist leaders, compromise is typically not an option.

Background

In the early 1890s, a populist political movement known as the People’s Party was organized in the United States by groups of farmers, laborers, and activists. The political movement was part of a larger social movement that occurred in response to major changes throughout the United States. Agriculture began expanding at a rapid rate, but it could not keep up with the industrial growth of the nation. The National Farmers’ Alliance and the Industrial Union set the foundation for the populist movement. The Farmers’ Alliance organized from a business standpoint, a change from other similar associations. Dr. Charles Macune was a Texas physician who believed that the disorganization among farmers was the prime cause of rural poverty. Macune and the alliance established an intricate plan that involved large-scale co-ops in an attempt to increase revenue. Lobbying efforts began and a “subtreasury” was created to store crops as well as credits. The business approach was designed to give the farmers better leveraging power in the political arena.

In 1892, populists gathered in Omaha, Nebraska, to hold their first presidential nominating convention to choose a candidate and adopt a party platform. James B. Weaver was chosen as the populist candidate. Although he secured only twenty-two electoral votes, other Populist Party candidates throughout the United States won their respective races. The platform established at the convention focused on three areas: money, land, and transportation.

The Farmers’ Alliance adopted the idea that knowledge was power. Although more modern views of populism elicit ideas of men brandishing pitchforks while focused on rage instead of reason, the People’s Party was known for its focus on education. It was a reading and talking party. Knowledge and education were the best ways to close the gap that existed between those who lived in the poverty of rural areas and those who benefited from the middle-class prosperity that existed in established towns. The movement helped create better opportunities for rural school children who had previously learned from untrained teachers in inadequate school houses. Once basic educational needs had been addressed, populists began to advocate for changes within the higher education system, including expanding teachers colleges and state universities. The Farmers’ Alliance was also progressive in that it embraced women into its politics.

Women played an important role in the success of the Populist Party. By 1890, 250,000 women had joined the party directly and even more supported it. Women in the party enjoyed the same benefits—including voting—that the men did, and many hoped that those rights would eventually become national laws. Also in 1890, Nebraska’s William Jennings Bryan was elected to Congress as a Democrat. He received the Democratic Party nomination for president in 1896 but lost the election to Republican William McKinley. This occurred three times during his political career. Bryan started the newspaper, The Commoner, and in 1912 became secretary of state under Woodrow Wilson. Bryan resigned from the position in 1912 because of political differences surrounding United States involvement in (what ultimately became) World War I (1914–18). Though no longer in a national, political role, Bryan still remained a strong advocate for women’s rights and an advocate for Prohibition.

Huey Long, known for his over-the-top, charismatic personality, is one of the most well-known populist politicians. A critic of corporate greed, Long was largely loved by his Louisiana constituency. He held the positions of governor, senator, and presidential candidate before he was assassinated in 1935. From a political standpoint, Long also led the first major populist movement in the twentieth century. He funded education and other programs by taxing the rich and was not shy when he criticized Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. Though he was beloved by many, Long was well-known as a political demagogue. Furthermore, his rise in the political arena was not an easy one. Although he became the youngest governor of Louisiana in 1928, Long came in third in the 1924 primary election for governor. Critics point to Long’s neutral stance on the Ku Klux Klan’s presence in Louisiana as being detrimental to his early political career. In 1930, Long became a US senator, but he is said to have maintained his power in his home state through a puppet governor.

Modern US Populism

George Wallace was already known throughout the United States when he unsuccessfully ran for president four times, beginning in the 1960s. A supporter of segregation, Wallace ran as a Democrat in 1964 when he challenged Lyndon B. Johnson. By 1972, Wallace had softened his position on segregation and his campaign looked to be gaining ground. On May 15, 1972, Wallace was in Maryland bringing his populist message to a receptive crowd when he was shot by a would-be assassin. Ross Perot, who also lost his bids for president, has also been described as a more moderate populist. Perot, who won less than 20 percent of the popular vote in 1992 and less than 10 percent in 1996, gained much of his political standing during a period when populist media personalities like conservatives Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge, and Ann Coulter saw their own popularity rise. Although pundits say populists influence the mainstream parties on the national level, they don’t necessarily win national races because the general population rejects the “us-versus-them” mentality.

An example of the political extremes involved in politics arose after the 2008 election of President Barack Obama. Populist Republicans and independents who always voted Republican, even when they disagreed with the candidate or platform, began to call themselves Tea Party Republicans. The term was adopted from colonial America when Massachusetts patriots dumped British tea in the harbor during the Boston Tea Party in 1773. By adopting the term, the modern Tea Party wanted to invoke the memory of that protest against British rule and set themselves up as protesting a modern ruling class that they saw in President Obama and the Democratic leadership. They also wanted to set themselves apart from those they accused of being Republicans in name only (RINOS)—Republicans who did not fully embrace the Tea Party platform. In 2009, the conservative Tea Party activists protested what they viewed as a liberal agenda, including stimulus spending to combat the global recession and bailouts of Wall Street. While the Tea Party was far right, activists on the left began the Occupy Wall Street Movement. Occupy Wall Street was a protest movement against global corporations, economic inequality, and the influence of money in society. In a 2011 article, Dissent magazine argued that Occupy Wall Street was on track to become the nation’s first major populist movement since the 1930s.

The 2016 presidential election cycle was a competition between several populists. In vying for the Democratic Party’s nomination, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont challenged Hillary Clinton on economic equality. Although Sanders was quite popular, he ultimately lost the Democratic nomination to Clinton, who many viewed as a candidate more favorable to the traditional Democratic Party establishment. In a similar fashion, Donald Trump’s campaign focused on claims that many wrongs in the United States needed to be addressed and everyday citizens were being deprived of rights; his campaign also promoted American nationalism and his rhetoric frequently drew accusations of racism, Islamophobia, and anti-immigrant sentiment. Scholars have compared Trump and his campaign with the Know-Nothing movement, which some say preceded the People’s Party and National Farmers’ Alliance as the first taste of populism in the 1840s. The Know-Nothings were a political movement that developed from an influx of Catholic and German immigrants that Protestants saw as a societal threat. They earned their name by replying “I know nothing” when asked about their political party by outsiders.

Political scientists have argued that Trump showed glimpses of populism, including an innate distrust of democratic institutions. Some scholars also argued that the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by his supporters, who sought to stop certification of the 2020 presidential election that he lost, was an example of a charismatic populist calling his people to action. Many observers viewed Trump's successful second bid for the US presidency in 2024 as a sign that Trump's outward expressions of populism had remained popular among voters, indicating that populism continued on an upward trend in the US.

Populism Beyond the United States

Populism is not a concept that is exclusive to the United States. Between 1990 and 2022, its global prevalence increased fivefold. In those three decades, forty-six populist leaders held office in thirty-three countries, including in several nations where populism has been largely absent from politics. For example, in German-speaking areas of Europe, the Völkisch movement (folkish movement) has been considered a populist movement, pitting native German speakers against believers in capitalism and Jewish people in the area. Populism is most closely identified with the political stylings of Latin American politicians and leaders like Juan Perón and Hugo Chávez toward the end of the twentieth century. However, in the early years of the twenty-first century, countries like Turkey and Poland also saw populist regimes grow.

Although historically, populism was not common in African and Asian countries, it has appeared in those regions in modern times. Asia witnessed populist politicians and rhetoric during a financial crisis that began in 1997. As many countries entered catastrophic recessions, populist leaders were able to take control for short amounts of time. When the financial crisis abated, they were ultimately removed. In the Middle East, populist approaches to issues emerged early in the twenty-first century during a period of uprisings that began in late 2010 and extended into 2011. Scholars debate whether the uprisings, known as the Arab Spring, were a good representation of populism or were simply protests against authoritative governments. However, scholars are more apt to consider the rhetoric surrounding the Arab Spring as populist in nature.

A 2018 report released by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change examined populism and its potential implications from a worldwide perspective. According to the report, populists categorize the people and the elite in three ways: cultural, socioeconomic, and anti-establishment. According to the report, cultural populism argues that the average people are the native members of the country, while those characterized as outsiders may include immigrants, criminals, minorities, and elites. Populism also emphasizes traditionalism and order and often views outsiders such as migrants as bringing chaos and disorder, making them the enemy. Socioeconomic populism states that the people are those who represent the honest working-class members of society, while the elite or privileged are viewed as big business owners and major economic players. Finally, anti-establishment populism presents the people as victims who labor but are held back by political elites characterized as outsiders and special-interest groups.

Populism in and of itself has changed the political landscape of the world, and globalization has played directly into the rise of populism in the twenty-first century. The global COVID-19 pandemic caused a slowdown in the global economy that created a decrease in wages. To help combat the wage reduction, leaders emphasized the importance of creating cheaper goods and products. Automation and technology replaced human workers, leading to unemployment and a marginalization of the working class. Thus, the events set the stage for an increase in populist parties with beliefs across a wide range of the political spectrum; however, much research and analysis focused on the rise of right-wing populist parties.

A 2022 report showed that right-wing populist parties in Italy and Sweden had great success in elections during the twenty-first century. For example, the Brothers of Italy party garnered the highest vote share in the 2022 election. Giorgia Meloni, who the media reported was the most far-right leader the country had seen since Benito Mussolini in the 1940s, became prime minister. The populist win in Italy was not isolated. A data analysis conducted by the Pew Research Center revealed that European right-wing populists had been garnering larger vote shares in elections for some time. In Spain, populist vote shares doubled between 2015 and 2019, with particular emphasis again on the right-wing parties. Hungary and Poland witnessed similar situations, as did Belgium and France; Hungary, in particular, became a global icon of right-wing populism during the prime ministership of Viktor Orbán, who by the early 2020s had also drawn intense criticism for undermining democratic institutions in Hungary.

Such gains by populist parties continued throughout the 2020s. In the 2024 European Parliament elections, for example, populist parties secured over one-third of the seats. Right-wing populist parties performed particularly well in France, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands, among other countries. Support for populist movements could also be seen in the 2020s through various protests in Europe. Farmers in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Germany protested against proposed environmental laws in early 2024, revealing the populist sentiment among rural communities. Beyond the US and Europe, other countries such as Brazil also experienced significant populist movements.

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