Cultural populism identifies the “true people” as native members of a nation or some sort of racial or ethnic majority within a country. They cast outsiders—migrants, ethnic and religious minorities, etc.—as enemies of the “true people” who threaten their cultural values and security. Cultural populism often has racist and ethno-nationalist undertones.

Cultural populism

Socio-economic populism identifies the “true people” as the hard-working and often low-income members of society who are suffering under a wealthy and corrupt elite. Although usually paired with a left-wing ideology, socio-economic populism can pair with more conservative cultural stances as well.

Socio-economic populism

Non-ideological populism strays from left-right ideological debates to focus on issues such as corruption and government reform. It is populistic in that it casts the establishment as a corrupt elite that exploits the people. It often justifies radical, anti-democratic government reforms as necessary to counter the corrupt establishment.

Non-ideological, anti-establishment populism

Populism is a hotly debated concept in political science but has a few key components. Populism posits that:
- Society is fundamentally divided into two key groups: a pure, moral people and a corrupt elite
- Nothing should constrain the will of the people

Populists claim to represent the “true” people and pledge to advocate for the people’s needs in office. Of course, populists can define “the people” in a variety of ways, leading to divergent types of populism.


Wesleyan University

In the context of a polarized electorate divided by ideological issues and social divisions, autocrats often employ populistic rhetoric in their campaigns to achieve broad public support. This populism is typically divisive and seeks to pit an autocrat’s supporters against supporters of democracy.

How Autocrats Utilize Populism to Their Advantage

Kyle, J. & Meyer, B. (2020, February 7). High Tide? Populism in Power, 1990-2020. Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. https://institute.global/policy/high-tide-populism-power-1990-2020

Kyle & Meyer (2020)

Populism and Its Types

Populism is not exclusively harmful to democracy. Many democratic revolutions and equal rights movements have used populist rhetoric effectively to topple oppressive regimes and political systems. The main concern with populism today, however, is that autocrats can use populism to justify attacking institutions that they argue get in the way of the will of the “true” people, including institutions meant to protect marginalized groups or laws meant to uphold democracy.

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