Populism

Polity & Governance glossary

Also called: Populist politics · Topic: Democracy: Forms of Government, Principles and Outcomes · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Populism is a style of politics that claims to speak for "ordinary people" against a self-serving ruling elite. It names a major, almost unyielding "enemy of the people", and it rests on whatever is popular with the people, or can be made popular. It matters because it keeps coming back in democracies and can be left-wing or right-wing. In power, it tends to expand executive authority and weaken the checks that hold rulers to account.

Explanation

How it works: the common core

  • People against the elite. Every populism, left or right, aims at the ruling elites.
  • An "enemy of the people". Populism always names a big, almost unyielding enemy that stands in the people's way.
  • Popularity as the test. It promotes what is popular, or what can be made popular, rather than what institutions or experts advise.
  • It comes in cycles. Populism "surfaces in democracies from time to time". One election defeat does not mean it is over.

Types: left and right populism

Left populism Right populism
Who is to blame The system itself, i.e. capitalism A self-serving "globalist" business elite
Second enemy None in particular Immigrants and foreigners
Attitude to markets Hostile to the system Attacks global business but can keep pro-market positions
  • Both appear to attack capitalism, but only on the surface. The left attacks the whole system, while the right attacks only one elite group within it.
  • Because both share the same anti-elite mood, angry voters can move from right to left. Only the "enemy" changes.

Why it rises: demand and supply

  • Economic pain.
  • The current wave began after the 2008 global financial crisis, which hit ordinary people hard.

  • The IMF linked the discontent after the crisis to slow growth, high unemployment and rising income inequality.

  • Trust deficit. Many citizens do not trust their governments.

  • In the OECD's 2024 Trust Survey, 44% had low or no trust in their national government, and 39% had high or moderately high trust.

  • The OECD's 2026 results find that a low sense of political voice (the feeling of having a real say in what government does) is a central, lasting cause of low trust.

  • Extremism and unrest. UN DESA links falling trust to support for extreme political views, protests and sometimes violent conflict.

  • Copying across borders. Trump's rise in the 2010s gave right-wing populism a global boost, because other democracies often follow the U.S. lead. He has backed fellow populists such as the Bolsonaros (Brazil), Nayib Bukele (El Salvador) and Viktor Orbán (Hungary).

Limits and dangers: populism in power

  • Expanding executive power. Populists in power increase executive authority (the power of the government of the day).
  • Gaming the checks. They often game the electoral system and institutional checks so they can stay in office.
  • This weakens horizontal accountability (control of the executive by courts, election bodies and the media).

  • It can lead to democratic backsliding: elected governments slowly weaken the courts, the media, the opposition and NGOs, without a coup. Commonly cited examples are Hungary, Turkey and Venezuela.

  • Danger to minorities. When "the people" means only the majority and outsiders are the "enemy", populism slides into majoritarianism.

  • The safety valve. Populism can be pushed back only while elections stay free enough for voters to punish the ruling party.

In the Constitution and practice

  • Popular sovereignty is the base. The Preamble's "We, the People" and adult franchise at 18 (Art. 326; voting age cut from 21 by the 61st Amendment, 1988) give the people final power. Populism claims to speak for this power directly. The Constitution makes the people act through institutions instead.
  • No direct-democracy route.
  • The Constitution has no referendum, initiative or recall for MPs and MLAs.
  • Amendments go through Parliament under Art. 368.

  • The debate on adding referendums weighs greater legitimacy against the risks of populism, threats to minority rights and voters lacking information.

  • Brakes on executive power:

  • Art. 75(3): the council of ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. Ministers must answer to the House every day through questions and motions. Ambedkar chose this "responsibility" over American-style "stability".
  • Basic structure (Kesavananda Bharati, 1973): Parliament can amend the Constitution but cannot destroy its core features, such as the rule of law and judicial review. A large majority cannot amend away these checks.
  • Art. 324: an independent Election Commission runs the elections that let voters remove a government.

  • Arts. 32 and 226: the courts enforce fundamental rights against the state.

  • The Emergency (1975–77) as a lesson in unchecked executive power:

  • Rights were suspended, the press was censored and leaders were jailed. Voters defeated the ruling party in 1977.
  • 44th Amendment (1978): "armed rebellion" replaced "internal disturbance". The Cabinet must now give its advice in writing. Arts. 20–21 can no longer be suspended.

  • ADM Jabalpur (1976) was overruled in Puttaswamy (2017).

  • Courts checking the executive: ADR v. Union of India (February 2024) struck down electoral bonds. Shreya Singhal (2015) struck down s.66A of the IT Act.

  • Giving people a voice, the remedy for low trust: the gram sabha (Arts. 243(b), 243A) and PESA 1996 give citizens a direct say in local decisions. This answers the "no voice" problem the OECD identifies.

Don't confuse with

  • Popular sovereignty: the constitutional principle that all power comes from the people and works through elections, rights and institutions. Populism is a political style that claims to be the people's only true voice and often attacks those institutions.
  • Majoritarianism: rule by a permanent majority community (religious, racial or language-based). Populism is anti-elite. It becomes majoritarian only when it turns minorities or foreigners into the "enemy".
  • Direct democracy: citizens decide issues themselves through referendum, initiative, recall or plebiscite. It is a set of devices. Populism is a style of politics that may use such devices but does not depend on them.
  • Illiberal democracy (Zakaria, 1997): a regime type in which elections are held but liberties, the media and the courts are curbed. Populism in power is one common route to it.

Prelims Hooks

  • The latest global populist wave began after the 2008 financial crisis, not with Trump's 2016 victory. Trump's rise only boosted it.
  • Left populism blames the capitalist system itself. Right populism blames a "globalist" business elite and adds immigrants and foreigners as a second enemy.
  • Leader–country matches: Nayib Bukele, El Salvador; Viktor Orbán, Hungary; the Bolsonaros, Brazil.
  • OECD Trust Survey 2024: 44% low or no trust in national government, against 39% high or moderately high trust. Do not swap the two figures.
  • The OECD lists political polarisation, disinformation and the rise of populism among the pressures on democracies.
  • "India's Constitution provides a referendum for amendments": FALSE. Amendments go only through Parliament under Art. 368.

Mains Points

  • Trust deficit and political voice. Populism feeds on low trust (44% low or no trust in the OECD, 2024) and on people feeling unheard. Welfare alone does not fix this; real participation does. For India that means working gram sabhas (Art. 243A), PESA 1996, social audits, RTI and public hearings. Changing the party in power does not give people more voice between elections.
  • Constitutional safeguards against executive aggrandisement (an elected executive steadily gathering more power). These include the basic structure doctrine (Kesavananda Bharati, 1973), collective responsibility (Art. 75(3)), an independent ECI (Art. 324), judicial review, and the 44th Amendment's Emergency safeguards (1978). An independent Election Commission and judiciary are what make it possible to vote a populist out at all.
  • Referendums for India. They could give big constitutional changes or statehood decisions more legitimacy. But they can turn complex issues into populist yes/no contests, put minority rights at risk (majority rule must never become rule by a permanent majority community) and depend on voters who may lack information. Also note for GS-II: right populism's anti-immigrant plank threatens India's diaspora and remittances, since the U.S. was the largest source of India's inward remittances, at about 27.7% in 2023-24.

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