Antiestablishment populism in Bulgaria: mainstreaming in the digital era

Abstract

ABSTRACT A vague and loosely defined concept, ‘populism’ allows understanding the nature of present day’s challenges encountered by liberal democracy better than any of the finely defined concepts that have currently gained widespread currency would allow. Bulgaria is no exception. There are several key moments that have effectively led to transforming populism into a norm. One has connection with the formation of the party system, the exhaustion of the transition cleavages, and the transformation of party politics into symbolic politics. The second concerns the way the market economy was built in the country, with the merging of economy and state, the disintegration of social systems and the distancing of citizenry from institutions and the political overall. The third is associated with the role of the media and the digital turn.