A definition of populism and how it is expressed in the current political system.
This paper is divided into two parts. The first part provides a definition of populism, addressing its ideology, social base, charisma, clientelism, and the extent of institutionalization. The second part argues that populism and guerrilla movements are very similar phenomena, divided only by the level of their extremism.
“There are many definitions of “populism”, as seemingly each academic uses his or her own definition of this term, expecting all readers to automatically agree with this definition. As Roberts (1995) says, “few social science concepts can match populism when it comes to nebulous and inconsistent usage”. As Roberts (1995) says, “These multiple dimensions have allowed the populist concept to be applied to a wide range of loosely connected empirical phenomena, ranging from economic policies and development phases to political ideologies, movements, parties, governments, and social coalitions”: some of these will be discussed below.”