Abstract

CORZO SALAMANCA, Jimmy Antonio  and  GOMEZ ALBARELLO, Juan Gabriel. THE POPULIST CHALLENGE TO DEMOCRACY: A THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL APPROACH. anal.polit. [online]. 2025, vol.38, n.111, pp.136-159.  Epub Dec 31, 2025. ISSN 0121-4705.  https://doi.org/10.15446/anpol.v38n111.125136.

Democratic regimes face several challenges. One very specific is the emergence and consolidation of populist movements and parties. Their anti-elitist and anti-pluralist platform undermines the foundations of political deliberation, the alternation of power, and the rule of law. In this article, we conduct a theoretical and empirical analysis of populism, showcasing the conceptual path for studying this phenomenon and the limitations of the so-called ideational approach. We contribute to the characterization of populism by highlighting the role played by malignant narcissistic leaders. Furthermore, based on data from the Seventh Wave of the World Values Survey and other sources, we present the results of a multiple factor analysis that allowed us to distinguish three groups of countries based on their levels of inequality, homicidal violence, perceptions of honesty/corruption, trust in institutions and interpersonal trust, interest in politics, and belief (or lack thereof) in hell.

Keywords : Populism; Ideational approach; Malignant narcissistic leader; Collective regression; Disempowerment/empowerment.

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