Populism

We explain what populism is, its history and how this government is characterized. Examples of Latin American populisms. The Russian case.

What is populism?

Populism is a form of government with strong leadership from a charismatic subjectwith proposals for social equality and popular mobilization. It is important to note the dichotomous simplification and the clear predominance of emotional arguments over rational ones.

The term populism It is used, in many cases, in a way pejorativein itself does not imply that the regime belongs to the right or the left but rather describes other aspects such as the lack of economic planning.

Populist governments can have political projects of any kind. When Latin American governments They take social measures aimed at gaining the sympathy of the populationthey are branded as populists. One of the criticisms of populism points out the universalizing nature of the term.

See also: Latin America

History of populism

It is correct to say that populism emerged in the 19th century simultaneously on Russian and American territory. Throughout history, both communist and socialist sectors have called the governments of countries that did not intend to overthrow capitalism, but were functional to that economic system, populist.

Some common practices of populism have to do with maintain a critical attitude toward the United States and with planning the economy under the Keynesian model. These governments have also intended that the popular sectors hold all the power, as an enemy of the wealthy classes that have interests opposed to the working class.

The populist regimes They have promoted indigenous culture to reject imperialismwithout necessarily reinforcing nationalism. Some examples of these regimes were Mexican agrarianism, American populism, Italian carbonarians, and Spanish cantonalism.

Although governments of these characteristics have tried to maintain cold relations with the United States, there have also been presidents in that country who implemented populist practices, such as Roosevelt and Kennedy. In some Spanish newspapers Obama has been called a populist but this adjective proved controversial.

Examples of populism in Latin America

• Venezuela. The presidencies of Carlos Andrés Perez between 1989 and 1993, Hugo Chavez from 1999 and 2013, and finally, that of Nicolás Maduro from 2013 to the present.
• Ecuador. Presidents José María Velazco Ibarra in his multiple governments and Rafael Correa since 2007.
• Bolivia. We have the presidency of Evo Morales from 2006 onwards.
• Brazil. Three populist presidencies, like Vargas in his multiple governments, Lula from 2002 to 2006 and Dilma Rousseff since 2011.
• Chili. There is only one presidency as an exponent of this type of policy, that of Michelle Bachelet.
• Argentina. Several analysts have characterized the Perón governments, and recently the governments of Néstor and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, as populist.
• Costa Rica. We can see the presidency of Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia between the years 1940 and 1944.
• Puerto Rico. There was only one populist presidency, that of Luis Muñoz Marín between 1949 and 1965.
• Mexico. We have the government of Lázaro Cárdenas between 1934 and 1940.

Russian populism

In Russia, populism was a doctrine and an ideological structure that was the product of a generation of young intellectuals who criticized social, economic and political conditions nationals in the mid-19th century.

Populism was considered a radical thought, which is why many young people did not go beyond the action of theorizing to political commitment. Among the repercussions that professing populist thought could have are persecution, kidnappings and murders. In that context, Herzen is considered the father of this systemsince he was firmly opposed to bourgeois development and longed for the transition to socialism to be achieved without first going through capitalism.

Russian populism He restored the people's faith that they could intervene in their future. and being a broad ideological sector and allowing itself to cover many positions of different natures, it gained many followers. Herzen, within the classic populist doctrine, explained the need for an economic revolution, because a political revolution could not resolve all the contradictions in the nation.

Finally, we can make a chronological division of Russian populism:

• Radical stage. It is the first stage, which goes from 1850 to 1870. Here the entire theoretical and ideological apparatus is created but action is not reached.
• Anarchist stage. In this second stage, which lasts a decade and goes from 1860 to 1870, there is an approach between intellectuals and the peasantry in order to educate them and theoretically prepare them for action.
• Liberal stage. In the third stage, which goes from 1880 to 1900, Russian populism tries to adapt to the capitalization of the economy. The people stop recognizing these ideas as liberating doctrines and adopt Marxism in their place.