Populism
The rise of new political developments is changing the legislative frameworks of many advanced political systems. Margalit (2019) defines populism as a political movement that champions the ordinary person through a pleasant contrast to the elite[1]. A similar definition of populism provided by Repucci et al. (2018)states that “populism is a mystically unified ‘nation’ against corrupt ‘elites’ and external enemies, and claims for a charismatic leader the power to voice the will of the nation[2]. It is therefore fundamentally illiberal, rejecting diversity of identity and opinion within society and discarding basic principles of modern constitutional thinking: that democracy requires constraints on the will of the majority and checks on the decisions of the executive.”
Populism in politics reshapes the political arrangement in a form where mass social movement and social movement party. In its contemporary view, populism regularly connected with a tyrant type of governmental issue[3]. Populist legislative problems, following this definition, spins around a magnetic pioneer who bids to and cases to encapsulate the desire of the individuals to merge his capacity. The type of legislative issues, ideological groups lose their significance, and races serve to affirm the pioneer’s position as opposed to mirroring the various devotions of the individual[4].
In this research paper, an examination of the narrative and strategy of populist actor’s discourse, ideological approach, and political style discussed. The discussion-based on famous populist leaders such as Chavez Hugoof Venezuela regarded as a populist actor provided. Reasons for the emergence of populism, intellectual, and cultural context of populism as well as the electoral base and targeted groups of populism discussed. Also, a review of the economic impact and the influence of populism on globalization, immigration, and the policy implications associated with populism is outlined.
Reason for the Emergence of Populism
Several reasons led to the emergence of populism as a witness since the binging of the 20th century. Firstly, there has been a stagnation in the living standard, which has been witnessed in the past few decades. This has led to the emergence of a group of the marginalized population that are striving to get out of their difficult situations. Populist actors apply the ideology of populism to win the vote of these marginalized populations though blaming their position to be caused by betrayal through unethical practices such as corruption carried out by the elite.
Secondly, there has been a decline in ethnic homogeneity due to immigration at different locations in the world. Democracy flourishes in countries where they are predominated by one ethnic population. Immigration has led to the mix of ethics in the community, and this has led to some people not being able to accept these immigrants. Consequently, they blame the immigrants to their problem, and thus the populist would use a xenophobic strategy to create popularity among his citizens. They are voices to develop a stricter immigration policy, which is perceived to offer a solution to the issue of immigration.
Thirdly the widespread corruption in the world has worked to the advantage of populist. The populist watches the political parties that carry out corruption so that they can put a claim that the elite group is exploiting the people. For instance, in Italy in the 1990s, there was a judicial investigation of widespread bribery, nepotism, and corruption among different departments in the country. This turned down the popularity of the existing government and in favor of populist Berlusconi and the league[5].
Fourthly, when the general public is progressively individualized, and voters become increasingly free and liberated, constituent instability will, in general, be higher. Such conditions will improve the likelihood that populist mentalities being converted into actual populist votes. Without a specific level of separation from conventional standard gatherings, voters are probably not going to really change away from them and usually go for the populists.
Another reason that has led to the emergence of populism is the inception of the internet into the world. Before the internet age, we were limited to who could give their opening to the public. Besides, even the opinion of populists had a limited audience. Specifically, it conflates monetary frailty being significant in clarifying the general populist vote and being significant by influencing political race results on edge. The observational discoveries demonstrate that the portion of populist support explained by monetary frailty is unobtrusive. After the inception of the internet, everyone can convey their opinion to the public, as well as the audience that the opinion reach is a lot. This has led to an increase in populist ideologies and a decline in a liberal democracy.
Another typical reasoning behind the rise of populism is the economic insecurity that has driven other forces such as immigration, trade, and other economic-related emergencies. In his section, the role of economic uncertainty on populism explained. According to Margalit, “Economic insecurity being important in explaining the overall populist vote and being important by affecting election outcomes on the margin[6].”
Electrol Base and Targeted Groups
Populist parties differ in terms of their ideologies, leadership strategies, and the political style they exhibited[7]. A populist targets two sets of groups – the marginalized and the elite population. Development of the electoral base of a populist is gathered by victimizing the elite as the cause of the problems encountered by the marginalized group. The populist targeted groups are either the winner of the populist ideology, which are the highly educated and entrepreneurs. At the same time, the losers are the marginalized population who feels that there should be no borders among them and the elite.
Narrative Used in Foreign Policies, Globalization- Immigration
Populism is always associating with nationalism with the people populist speak about in national affairs being the one represented within a particular border. For instance, Hugo Chevez’s foreign policies aimed at representing constituencies such as the global south with the world poor[8].This literature by Reppucci et al. 2018) further argues that populist parties of the right have foreign policy positions that reflect their nativism, opposition to immigration, focus on national sovereignty, and rejection of economic and cultural globalization. Populist parties of the left, on the other hand, reject in their foreign policy positions neo-liberalism and open markets[9].
Populist view immigration factor that creates an economic competition to the native people. Populist parties charge, overuse, strain, and often cut off their welfare in their recipient countries. These charges because they view the political influence of immigration on the economy as a threat to the well-being of the state(“Global Populism” n.d., para.3). Besides, populist put policies that restrict immigration as a way of preventing diversity, in the view that this poses a cultural threat to the people.
There is also a rise in global populism that defines characteristics in which populist parties define an organic part of the population represented as the people. This natural part means renewed efforts to exclude vulnerable groups from the definition of the “people.” This definition is the majority rule without minority rights. Second, those who disagree with the populist representation of “the people” are not the “real” nation. The opposition (whether elite or popular) is, by definition, treasonous and treacherous—and summarily dealt with. Policies on immigration developed as ideologies that are proposed by populists to gain influence on the people.
Stance on Fake News
The marvel of fake news is frequently clarified as far as the resistance’s advertising procedures and geopolitics that move crowds toward an “epistemic (or truth) emergency.” Emotion is said to triumph over-explanation, computational promulgation over sound judgment, or sheer control over information. Online networking has demonstrated that there are various methods of exploiting long stewing and regularly exceptionally unpredictable discussions over race, sexuality, class, and different themes (ready for hound whistles). These appear to consistently lie on the edges of what can be said or even idea and what can’t be in polite society.
Going too far between the two is socially debilitated and somewhat criminal (defamation laws), however, under the umbrella of rights identified with the opportunity of affiliation and discourse/correspondence. Destabilizing the class of truth in a vote based system for geopolitical addition in our view becomes conceivable because vote based system as a system of truth takes into account an extraordinary assortment of dubious talk[10].
Spreading outrageous and distorted information to discredit opposition or create divisiveness between opposing groups is not a new method in the history of propaganda. We have witnessed officials in televised hearings struggling to comprehend the stakes at play in questioning social media executives. There are also reports from several large scale research projects that focus on the opportunist and predatory usage of technology and social media techniques (“computational propaganda” via bots or automated messages and other means) in local and global communications systems[11]. Finally, the history of disinformation and propaganda, as well as suggestions for policies that would prevent fake news and curb its damaging effects are cited as key research areas for protecting democratic practices in the future.
Conspiracy Theories
According to Bergmann (2018), populists over the world are altogether bound to believe in conspiracy theories that relate global administration of vaccines, global warming, or calamities that occur such as the 9/11 and blame this as strategies used by the oppressor[12]. The conspiracy theories, in return, play a vital role in bringing out the Ideologies that give the populist a political milestone. The misinformation in these conspiracy theories allows the populist to come to the rescue of the people.
Conclusion
Populist actors use populism as a way of political style, which aims at gaining votes from marginalized populations commonly referred to “the people” through claims that the populist will protect and rescue them from challenges they face. Several factors that lead to the rise of populism, which include; cultural factors, economic factors, corruption among the leaders, and advancement of technology. These factors make populism get some preference at the expense of liberal democracy.
The targeted groups by populist actors are mainly the elite and the people. A populist actor will blame the elite for the problem the people are facing. The main aim is to create a populist party to gain votes. Narratives around global policies developed for immigration that are provided by populist and populist parties are aimed at increasing popularity through claims of protecting the culture, economy, and immigrants pose reduction of the completion, which they believe.
Fake news and conspiracy theories are some of the tools that populists use to corrupt the minds of the followers into believing in an oppressor who usually regarded as the elite. Populists believe in conspiracy theories because they see that as an opportunity for gaining political popularity. Since its inception, populism has effectively been used in politics by different leaders. Impacts that are faced due to populist ideology in politics goes beyond political, social, and economic effect.
References
America, Latin, et al. 2014. “Studying the Causes of Populism.” : 1–6. https://ecpr.eu/Events/PanelDetails.aspx?PanelID=4237&EventID=102 (May 17, 2020).
Arditi, Benjamín, Sebastian Barros, Glenn Bowman, and David Howarth. 2005. Populism and the Mirror of Democracy. Verso.
Bergmann, Eirikur. 2018. Conspiracy & Populism: The Politics of Misinformation. Springer.
Berry, Richard. 2017. “Book Review: Populism: A Very Short Introduction by Cas Mudde and Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser.” USApp-American Politics and Policy Blog.
Chryssogelos, Angelos. 2017. “Populism in Foreign Policy.”
“FSI | Global Populism – Populism and Immigration.” https://fsi.stanford.edu/global-populisms/global-populism-workshop-2018 (May 18, 2020).
Margalit, Yotam. 2019. “Economic Causes of Populism: Important, Marginally Important, or Important on the Margin.” VOX, CEPR Policy Portal. https://voxeu.org/article/economic-causes-populism (May 17, 2020).
Reppucci, Sarah et al., 2018. “The Global Implications of Populism on Democracy.” Task Force, 2018.
Rooduijn, Matthijs. 2018a. “What Unites the Voter Bases of Populist Parties? Comparing the Electorates of 15 Populist Parties.” European Political Science Review 10(3): 351–68.
———. 2018b. “Why Is Populism Suddenly All the Rage?” The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/political-science/2018/nov/20/why-is-populism-suddenly-so-sexy-the-reasons-are-many (May 18, 2020).
[1] Margalit, Yotam. 2019. “Economic Causes of Populism: Important, Marginally Important, or Important on the Margin.” VOX, CEPR Policy Portal.
[2] Reppucci, Sarah et al., 2018. “The Global Implications of Populism on Democracy.” Task Force, 2018.
[3], Arditi, Benjamín, Sebastian Barros, Glenn Bowman, and David Howarth. 2005. Populism and the Mirror of Democracy. Verso.
[4]s in America, Latin, et al. 2014. “Studying the Causes of Populism.” : 1–6.
[5] Rooduijn, Matthijs. 2018a. “What Unites the Voter Bases of Populist Parties? Comparing the Electorates of 15 Populist Parties.” European Political Science Review 10(3): 351–68.
[6] Margalit, Yotam. 2019.
[7] Rooduijn, Matthijs. 2018a
[8] Chryssogelos, Angelos. 2017. “Populism in Foreign Policy.”
[9] Reppucci, Sarah et al., 2018
[10] “FSI | Global Populism – Populism and Immigration.” https://fsi.stanford.edu/global-populisms/global-populism-workshop-2018
[11] ———. 2018b. “Why Is Populism Suddenly All the Rage?” The Guardian.
[12] Bergmann, Eirikur. 2018. Conspiracy & Populism: The Politics of Misinformation. Springer.