populism

American  

[pop-yuh-liz-uhm] / ˈpɒp yəˌlɪz əm /

noun

1. any of various, often antiestablishment or anti-intellectual political movements or philosophies that offer unorthodox solutions or policies and appeal to the common person rather than according with traditional party or partisan ideologies.

2. grass-roots democracy; working-class activism; egalitarianism.

3. representation or extolling of the common person, the working class, the underdog, etc..

   populism in the arts.

4. (initial capital letter) the political philosophy of the People's party.

---

populism British  

/ ˈpɒpjʊˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. a political strategy based on a calculated appeal to the interests or prejudices of ordinary people

---

populism Cultural  

1. The belief that greater popular participation in government and business is necessary to protect individuals from exploitation by inflexible bureaucracy and financial conglomerates. “Power to the people” is a famous populist slogan.

---

Other Word Forms

• anti-populism noun

Etymology

Origin of populism

An Americanism first recorded in 1890–95; from Latin popul(us) “people” ( people, popular ) + -ism

Example Sentences

There is also a long tradition of populism and multiracial alliances in rural America, most notably Appalachia.

From Salon

It is interesting that they’ve always been enormously vain about the originality of their policy insights, their perceiving before others the rise of populism.

From The Wall Street Journal

AFP looks at the history of the LDP, what it believes in and the reasons for its decades of success, even in the age of social media and populism.

From Barron's

“The culprit was not U.S. economic news or Fed messaging, but rather Japanese yields. Fiscal populism on top of already very high debt/GDP issues lifted back-end JGB yields abruptly,” Purves says.

From MarketWatch

Some analysts now wonder whether the days are numbered for Chavismo, which allowed Chávez to concentrate power under a banner extolling nationalism, populism and what he described as “socialism of the 21st century.”

From Los Angeles Times