Abstract
In academic and public debates, populism has been portrayed both as a threat and a corrective to democracy. In the article, this debate is approached from the perspective of citizens’ attitudes and it is asked whether more populist citizens are less supportive of democracy. Using data from an original 6-country panel, robust evidence is presented that populism is indeed negatively related to democratic regime preferences. By disentangling populist attitudes, however, a more nuanced picture is offered and it is highlighted that not all forms and sub-dimensions of populism present a threat to democracy. It is primarily right-wing populism and the Manichaean outlook on society that are negatively related to diffuse support for democracy in the general public. This underlines the need for democratic societies to address the dangers of an exclusionary populism and the radical polarisation inherent in a Manichaean worldview.
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