Populist Parties

The rise of populist parties shows a change in people’s idea of how their country should be ruled. Someone stated that the rise of these parties in the US and Europe has been good for democracy; however, I strongly disagree with this statement. Before explaining my viewpoint supported by a few examples, I will define what populism is, how it has raised, the actors involved in this movement and finally, how it affects the democracy.

According to the definition of the Oxford dictionary populism is “a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups.” Moreover, Jan-Werner Müller, a professor of political science at Princeton, argued that populists have a specific

However, many populist parties represent a real threat to democracy. Even if at first impact populist movements embody the values of democracy, as they address the most disadvantaged and the most affected population by the economic crisis and the immigration; in fact, it is not. Populist parties exploit social and economic problems to gain people’s trust and to obtain a seat in the government; they achieve it by relying on people’s sensitivity and invoking the national values in which the real people identifies. In my opinion, populist parties represent a threat to democracy as they do not depict the problems as they are. Instead, they rely on the injustices and accuse the EU of being the source which causes the adoption of austere policies damaging the large part of the population while favouring elite groups. These movements blame the others for the problems that affect today's society. Instead of proposing possible solutions by promoting collaboration, integration and multiculturalism, the real key to future development and success; they exploit democracy to obtain the highest offices and, once they have achieved their goals, they will attempt to limit the

Although there are several examples of the effects of populism, the population, too much concerned with the situation in their own country that they are not able to find the analogies among the similar events. However, to avoid the same ending, the gaining of the power of populist parties or any party, which campaigns against the EU polity and migration, through the appealing of national and monocultural values. People should pay more attention, employ their critical thinking and question the parties involved in the national institutions. With the right information from trusted sources and active participation, the population will be able to take the appropriate decisions concerning the future of their