Populism as a political experiment: The history and political theory of an ambivalence

Abstract

Once again the concept of populism is en vogue, partly due to the fact that leaders such as Chávez in Venezuela and Berlusconi in Italy have come to power. However, the Social Sciences have serious problems in defining populism and elaborating a political theory to grasp this phenomenon. The present article attempts to fill this void. It is divided into two sections. The first part presents a historical analysis of the concept of populism, which demonstrates that it has been used to tackle a set of ambivalences immanent to all political order. The second part elaborates an ideal-typical definition of populism and offers a theoretical outline of this phenomenon. The proposed theory transcends the demonisation or divinisation of populism; it offers a perspective that helps to comprehend rather than pass a normative judgment on the concept.