Uploaded April 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In this talk, Ludvig Norman (Research Fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, Stockholm and Senior Fellow at IES) elaborates on a central trait of populism, namely its treatment of the concept of "the people." According to Norman, populism is a form of politics that builds its claims for legitimacy on an essentialist understanding of "the people’" and employs this notion as an organizing principle. Working through the political implications of this central trait helps define what is specific about populism and how it emerges in tension with liberal democracy. A central conclusion of the talk is that, while populism is often associated with an anti-elitist rhetorical style, its notion of "the people" tends, quite to the contrary, towards an elitist form of political organization. As such, Norman claims, populism emerges as a form of politics that works to circumscribe, rather than to enhance possibilities for political participation and democratic accountability. A central conclusion of the talk is that, while populism is often associated with an anti-elitist rhetorical style, its notion of ‘the people’ tends, quite to the contrary, towards an elitist form of political organization. As such, populism emerges as a form of politics that works to circumscribe, rather than to enhance possibilities for political participation and democratic accountability.
In this talk, Ludvig Norman (Research Fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, Stockholm and Senior Fellow at IES) elaborates on a central trait of populism, namely its treatment of the concept of "the people." According to Norman, populism is a form of politics that builds its claims for legitimacy on an essentialist understanding of "the people’" and employs this notion as an organizing principle. Working through the political implications of this central trait helps define what is specific about populism and how it emerges in tension with liberal democracy. A central conclusion of the talk is that, while populism is often associated with an anti-elitist rhetorical style, its notion of "the people" tends, quite to the contrary, towards an elitist form of political organization. As such, Norman claims, populism emerges as a form of politics that works to circumscribe, rather than to enhance possibilities for political participation and democratic accountability. A central conclusion of the talk is that, while populism is often associated with an anti-elitist rhetorical style, its notion of ‘the people’ tends, quite to the contrary, towards an elitist form of political organization. As such, populism emerges as a form of politics that works to circumscribe, rather than to enhance possibilities for political participation and democratic accountability.
