In spite of analytical differences, populism originates from the general discomfort with the inability of liberal democracies to fulfill their promises. It is paradigmatic, in fact, that the recent wave of populist electoral success can be traced back to 2007/2008, years in which a major economic crisis violently rocked the Western economies. When income stops growing and even starts to decline, when unemployment, especially among the youth, increases, and when poverty expands while at the same time income inequalities enlarge, it is not surprising that losers will search for somebody else to represent their interests. It happened in the 1930s. It is happening again. Moreover, dominant political parties have so far been unable to listen and act, and the link between rulers and ruled is broken. This inevitably attracts new entrants.
Still, until now, within Western Europe, democratic institutions have proven robust enough to prevent populist attitudes from growing into authoritarian regimes. And it seems that citizens do not really wish to change constitutional rules. The populist vote could also be interpreted as a sort of “menace card” that citizens insert into the ballot box to achieve better responsiveness from incumbent political parties. However, even if the recourse to populist parties is instrumental and carried out within the boundaries of democratic rules, their existence is already hurting the quality of democracy. Many populist political programs, in fact, are soaked with nationalistic and xenophobic rhetoric that so far has eroded but not destroyed democratic institutions. Right-wing populism is often associated with rallies and political provocations against migrants, minorities, gypsies, or LGBTQ citizens; this decreases civil liberties and security, and therefore corrodes political life.
Emerging new political movements in Europe and elsewhere are difficult to classify and they seem to be unified only by their antagonism to traditional governments, political parties, and institutions. The comprehensive label “populism” is used more and more, but its meaning is not yet clear. In the series that we launch with this essay, we will try to identify some of the problems that the populist challenge puts on the current agenda, and we invite colleagues to discuss such questions as:
Besides the need to understand populism more specifically, democrats must respond to the challenges it poses. The response to populism cannot be outside of the democratic framework, but should rather fully enhance it. Radical changes should be introduced in policy-making, changes that, so far, no government or political force has been willing to introduce. Democracy does require new entrants, and it is fine if they come to the fore not only as a leading force in established political parties but also as new political parties. The basic problem is to guarantee that political turbulence is kept within the rule of law and that it is not detrimental to civil liberties.