라틴아메리카 포퓰리즘의 세 가지 유형과 민주주의의 연관성

Abstract

This article attempts to examine three types of Latin American populism and their relevance to the issue of democracy. The three types include classical populism exemplified by Juan D. Peron’s regime in Argentina in the 1940s and the 1950s, reclaimed cases of neopopulism in the 1990s, and ‘radical populism’ pursued by leftist governments in the early 21st century. Examining the three types allows us to realize that populism in historical context can be better defined by its political style and strategy than by its ideological orientation and socio-economic program. As the cases of neopopulism, that is, populism in the age of neoliberalism demonstrate, it is considered as a set of strategies for gaining access to power that combines with any sort of political forces, irrespective of their ideological inclination. Furthermore, as recent scholarly works try to emphasize, populism can be regarded as one of the essential components of democracy that has been neglected under the contemporary representative system.