Syriza’s Populism: The Ethical Dimensions

Abstract

Populism has lately been subject to many discussions in both academic circles and in the world political arena. For ten years several right-wing populist parties have taken power positions in various parts of the world. Leftist populist parties, on the other hand, have gained strength relatively later than their right-wing counterparts and in terms of electoral success they are still far behind them. To understand the rise and success of left and right wing populisms we should first focus on the meaning of populism in practical politics. In Ernesto Laclau’s conceptualization; populism, is a creation of a people. It has to do with the establishment of a boundary between an "us" and a "them," between the people and the establishment. To establish a hegemonic influence over people everything then depends on which “us” and which “them” is created both in the populist discourses and actions. The part of truth within the contents assigned to “us” and “them”, their instrumentalization on the way to electoral success, and the way they are actually realized necessitate a crucial conceptual investigation with regard to the ethical connotations of these two created identities. Within this framework, this chapter will discuss ethical dimensions of Greek leftist populism represented by Syriza by analyzing the discrepancies between its electoral promises and its actual practices. In the practical level, the chapter will analyze the general ethical inconsistencies of Syriza in Power. Syriza experienced both power and opposition positions in politics. This gives us the opportunity to compare the consistency between Syriza’s actions and its previously declared intentions to assess its ethical sincerity. The ethical inconsistencies of Syriza and the reasons behind its electoral rise and decline are two essential questions this chapter will try to answer.