Towards a Theory of Populism

Abstract

Any understanding of contemporary politics that wants to be taken seriously must find a way to deal with populism. It is a political phenomenon that has happen all over the world. Obviously, many books have been written about this topic Nevertheless, there is not a least common denominator about its reach and meaning. Almost all authors accept that ‘populism’ is an imprecise, problematic and polysemic concept. This article sustains, conversely, that it is possible specify what is populism. In consequence, it is likely to elaborate a theory of populism. This effort is important not only for the academic field, in specific humanities, social science, public policy and political science but also in order to protect liberal democracy against many misinterpretations and manipulations like that of speak about a “populist democracy”, which is an oxymorus. This confusion has been consciously provoked by those scholars, ideologues, politicians and political parties, pro-populism. There is a key solution for this challenge. It means, what Norberto Bobbio named “the lesson of the classics”.
It is about a different perspective in comparison to that approach adopted by the authors “specialists” or “experts” in populism.