populism | Britannica

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data-icon="keyboard_arrow_left"></span> </button> <button disabled class="next-button js-next-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-blue " aria-label="Next"> <span class="material-icons md-24" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></span> </button> </div> </div> </div> <main> <div class="md-page-wrapper"> <div id="content" class="md-content"> <div class="container"> <div> <h1>populism</h1> <span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><firstImage><asm id="112880" filename="/24/117224-050-66F55917/Campaign-poster-text-election-speech-William-Jennings-1896.jpg" alttext="William Jennings Bryan: presidential campaign poster"><title>William Jennings Bryan: presidential campaign poster</title><caption><span>Campaign poster from the 1896 U.S. presidential election with the text of William Jennings Bryan's “Cross of Gold” speech, color lithograph.</span></caption></asm></firstImage></div><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref1070041"></span>populism</strong>, 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 <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">left</a> and the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">right</a>, opposing large business and financial interests but also frequently being hostile to established <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">liberal</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">socialist</a>, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">labour</a> parties.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The term <em>populism</em> can designate either <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><span id="ref1178976"></span>democratic</a> or <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">authoritarian</a> movements. Populism is typically critical of political <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">representation</a> 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 <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">revolution</a>. In the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">United States</a> the term was applied to the program of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><span id="ref1178977"></span>Populist Movement</a>, which gave rise to the Populist, or People’s, Party in 1892. Many of the party’s demands were later adopted as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">laws</a> or <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">constitutional amendments</a> (e.g., a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">progressive tax</a> system). The populist demand for <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">direct democracy</a> through <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">popular initiatives and referenda</a> also become a reality in a number of U.S. states.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-true" data-assembly-id="72076" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/76/61076-050-7A002640/Juan-Peron-Eva-president-Buenos-Aires-term.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="*72076"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/76/61076-050-7A002640/Juan-Peron-Eva-president-Buenos-Aires-term.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/76/61076-050-7A002640/Juan-Peron-Eva-president-Buenos-Aires-term.jpg?w=300" alt="Juan Perón and Eva Perón" data-width="1600" data-height="1066" loading="eager"></img></source></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/76/61076-050-7A002640/Juan-Peron-Eva-president-Buenos-Aires-term.jpg" data-href="*72076">Juan Perón and Eva Perón</a><span>Juan Perón and his wife, Eva, in Buenos Aires on inauguration day (June 9, 1952) of his second term as president of Argentina.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">In its contemporary understanding, however, populism is most often associated with an <span id="ref1178978"></span>authoritarian form of politics. Populist politics, following this definition, revolve around charismatic leaders who appeal to and claim to embody the will of the people in order to consolidate their own power. In this personalized form of politics, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">political parties</a> lose their importance, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">elections</a> serve to confirm the leader’s authority rather than reflect the different allegiances of the people. Some forms of authoritarian populism have been characterized by extreme <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">nationalism</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">racism</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">conspiracy mongering</a>, and scapegoating of marginalized groups, each of which served to consolidate the leader’s power, to distract public attention from the leader’s failures, or to conceal from the people the nature of the leader’s rule or the real causes of economic or social problems.</p><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">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 <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><span id="ref1293647"></span>Juan Perón</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><span id="ref1293645"></span>Getúlio Vargas</a>, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><span id="ref1293646"></span>Hugo Chávez</a>. In the early 21st century, populist authoritarian regimes arose in Turkey, Poland, and Hungary, among other countries. In the United States, according to some historians and political scholars, the administration of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Republican</a> Pres. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><span id="ref1303611"></span>Donald Trump</a> (2017–21) also displayed some aspects of authoritarian populism. Among them were conspiracy mongering, racism toward African Americans and nonwhite immigrants, distrust of democratic institutions among Trump’s core supporters, and the subservient position of the national Republican Party. Perhaps the most powerful indicator of the existence of authoritarian populism under Trump was his incitement of a mob of his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election (<em>see</em> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><span id="ref1303610"></span>United States Capitol attack of 2021</a>).</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The term <em>populist</em> is often used pejoratively to criticize a politician for pandering to a people’s fear and enthusiasm. Depending on one’s 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 <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">inflation</a> or <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">debt</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature font-12"><a href="/contributor/Andre-Munro/9278128">André Munro</a></span> <span class="md-signature font-12"><a href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</a></span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div style="clear:both"></div> <div class="print-citations"> <div class="text-uppercase font-weight-bold">Citation Information</div> <div> <span class="text-uppercase font-weight-bold">Article Title:</span> populism</div> <div> <span class="text-uppercase font-weight-bold">Website Name:</span> Encyclopaedia Britannica </div> <div> <span class="text-uppercase font-weight-bold">Publisher:</span> Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. </div> <div> <span class="text-uppercase font-weight-bold">Date Published:</span> 15 January 2025</div> <div> <span class="text-uppercase font-weight-bold">URL:</span> <a href="https://www.britannica.comhttps://www.britannica.com/topic/populism">https://www.britannica.comhttps://www.britannica.com/topic/populism</a> </div> <div> <span class="text-uppercase font-weight-bold">Access Date:</span> February 25, 2025</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> null </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> null </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.133.36"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/dist/.js?v=3.133.36' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> null </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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populism | Britannica