The New Wave of Populism essays

The New Wave of Populism essays Western democracies are experiencing a period of change because of a rising wave of right-wing populism. The populists already had success in Britain with Brexit and the United States with president Trump, and their success seems to be contagious in the rest of Europe. Political leaders Marine le Pen from Front National in France and Geert Wilders from the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands are the next right-wing populist candidates favored to win. Both of them are forces to be reckoned with in the coming elections. These populist want to rebuild state-egoism by laying emphasis on the national politics and stop mass-immigration. The established western elite, who have been the ruling power since the Second World War, are watching with fear to what this new period is going to bring. The sovereign rule of the people as a homogeneous body is the central idea in this thin-centered ideology or political doctrine (Abts, Koen and Stefan Rummens: â€Å"Populism versus Democracy†. University of Leuven, 2007 vol. 55) The word populism comes from the Latin word â€Å"populus†, which means the people. Populism comes in both right- and left-wing parties, but the current wave of populism is especially connected to the right-wing parties. The populist leader considers himself as the representative who knows the general will of the â€Å"ordinary forgotten people†. Their goal is to unite â€Å"the pure people† and to give the power back to them from â€Å"the corrupt elite†, who does not understand the middle-class (Mudde, Cas. Populist radical right parties in Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge U Press, 2007. Print.) For the people in the nation who say the populist leader does not represent them, he has a clear response: they do not belong to the nation. Only those who agree with this â€Å"national will† do belong to the nation. They along with the elite form the â€Å"enemy† of the people and are the reason for the problems within in the nation. Crea...