Radicalism and populism: do they always go hand by hand? A comparative analysis of the radical left and the radical right in Spain

Abstract

ABSTRACT In recent years, Spain’s political landscape has been dramatically transformed from a two-party system, to a new polarized multi-party system. In this sense, two new radical parties are playing a crucial role: Unidas Podemos (UP) and VOX. Despite their ideological differences, both have been defined as populists. In the case of UP this nature has been pointed out, but for VOX it is less clear due to its recent institutionalization. Our purpose is to examine populism regarding these two parties. We conducted a qualitative analysis of manifestos and speeches using so-called Discourse-Theoretical Analysis (DTA) to examine their ideological discursive elements. The results show that the relation between radicalism and populism is not mechanical or self-evident and that there is a need to develop a research agenda that treats populism systematically, not as an empty rhetoric concept.