The ideational approach to populism

While populism is still, to some extent, a contested concept, the ideational approach has now gained popularity. From this perspective, emphasis is placed on a specific aspect of populists: their ideas. Along these lines, the definition elaborated by Cas Mudde that conceives populism as a thin-centred ideology is broadly used. Following Mudde, populism has two defining attributes. On the one hand, it conceives society as divided into two homogenous, opposing and morally defined groups: the ‘pure’ people versus the ‘corrupt’ elite. Furthermore, for populists, politics should be the expression of the ‘general will’ of the people. The aim of this chapter is three-fold. First, it provides a detailed description of the ideational approach to populism. Second, it attempts to capture the reasons behind the success of this approach. Finally, it assesses the critiques that have been addressed towards the ideational approach from different perspectives.