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Latin American populism: some conceptual and normative lessons

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 12:43 authored by Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser
Populism seems to be a pervasive phenomenon in the contemporary world. Many intellectuals are asking themselves whether the Occupy Wall Street and Tea Party movements in the U.S. or the indignados in Spain are examples of populist uprisings. Answering this question is not straightforward, since there is an ongoing debate about how to define populism and study its impact on democracy. This article sheds light on this discussion by undertaking a critical revision of the Latin American debate on populism. Two key arguments are developed. First, populism should be conceived of as a set of ideas characterized by a moral understanding of the world, according to which the people form a homogenous and virtuous community, and the elite a pathological entity. Second, populism is not necessarily an authoritarian force, but rather an ideology that takes for granted the existence of a unified popular will, and that is at odds with deliberative and liberal conceptions of democracy.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Constellations

ISSN

1351-0487

Publisher

Blackwell Publishing

Issue

4

Volume

21

Page range

494-504

Department affiliated with

  • Politics Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2013-03-13

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2012-10-19

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