Populism and domestic/international politics: theory and practice

Mohamed Metawe

doi:10.1108/reps-11-2019-0146

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to contend that populism is damaging to both domestic and international politics; not only does it erode liberal democracy in established democracies but also fuels authoritarianism in despotic regimes and aggravates conflicts and crises in international system. Design/methodology/approach The research is divided into two main sections. First, it examines how populist mobilization affects liberal democracy, and refutes the claims that populism is beneficial and reinforcing to democracy. Second, it attempts to demonstrate how populism is damaging to domestic politics (by undermining liberal democracy and supporting authoritarianism) as well as international relations (by making interstate conflicts more likely to materialize). Theoretically, populism is assumed to be a strategy used by politicians to maximize their interest. Hence, populism is a strategy used by politicians to mobilize constituents using the main features of populist discourse. Findings The research argues that populism has detrimental consequences on both domestic and international politics; it undermines liberal democracy in democratic countries, upsurges authoritarianism in autocratic regimes and heightens the level of conflict and crises in international politics. Populism can lead to authoritarianism. There is one major undemocratic trait shared by all populist waves around the world, particularly democracies; that is anti-pluralism/anti-institutions. Populist leaders perceive foreign policy as the continuation of domestic politics, because they consider themselves as the only true representatives of the people. Therefore, populist actors abandon any political opposition as necessarily illegitimate, with repercussions on foreign policy. Originality/value Some scholars argue that populism reinforces democracy by underpinning its ability to include marginalized sectors of the society and to decrease voter apathy, the research refuted these arguments. Populism is destructive to world democracy; populists are reluctant to embrace the idea of full integration with other nations. Populists reject the idea of open borders, and reckon it an apparent threat to their national security. The research concludes that populists consider maximizing their national interests on the international level by following confrontational policies instead of cooperative ones.

Highlights

Populism is not a new phenomenon; it came into scholarly attention in the 1960s and 1970s, as it rose and prevailed in the Latin American politics, and came back into focus in the© Mohamed Metawe
As opposed to the argument made by some scholars that populism may succeed in mobilizing the marginalized sectors, and in filling the representation gap that is lethal to democracy, this study argues that the central themes of populism create an anti-democratic atmosphere that puts the society in a state of constant conflict between those who are “virtuous” and those who are “corrupt”, with the “virtuous” empowered to transgress or infringe the rights and liberties of the “corrupt”
Conclusion a group of scholars argue that populism reinforces democracy by underpinning its ability to include marginalized sectors of the society and to decrease voter apathy, the research provides pieces of evidence to refute these arguments

Summary

Introduction

Populism is not a new phenomenon; it came into scholarly attention in the 1960s and 1970s, as it rose and prevailed in the Latin American politics, and came back into focus in the. Published in Review of Economics and Political Science. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/ legalcode

Objectives

Findings

Conclusion