Abstract
In this paper, I argue that ideology has a moderating role on how populist attitudes shape support for three liberal democratic values: the separation of powers, the granting of civil liberties and the protection of the rights of minorities. Drawing on insights gleaned from the political theory and comparative politics literature, and using an ideational approach to populism, I suggest that leftist and rightist populist individuals’ different understandings of what constitutes the people shape their stances towards democracy. Using data from Spain (N = 3000), I show that right-wing populist individuals display lower levels of support for the granting of civil liberties and the protection of the rights of minorities than their non-populist peers. As for left-wing individuals, populist attitudes are unrelated to the rights of minorities, positively related to the granting of civil rights, and also positively related to some aspects of the separation of powers. The evidence reveals that right-wing populists endorse principles of liberal democracy less strongly compared to non-populist right-wing individuals and to left-wing individuals, and it has important implications on how to understand and tackle populism in modern democracies.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
-
Remarkably, these three are not the unique values defining neither a liberal democratic regime nor sufficient elements for a system to be considered a democracy. For instance, the V-Dem Liberal Democratic Index (Lührmann et al., 2020) provides other defining factors of a liberal democratic regime such as the presence of a rigorous and impartial public administration, transparent laws with predictable enforcement, property rights, freedom from torture, political killing or forced labour, freedom of movement and religion, compliance with judiciary, the existence of opposition parties or the executive oversight, among others. Furtherore, other conceptions of democracy make emphasis in alternative defining elements of democracy. In sum, it is important to highlight that neither democracy nor democratic values are restricted to the three components addressed in this piece.
-
Replication materials can be found at Harvard Dataverse, https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/C1DR0N.
-
The used sample is representative of the Spanish adult population until 65 years old. Nonetheless, there are good reasons to believe that the evidence had individuals older than 65 years old been included would have been similar to the one found in the paper. I discuss these arguments in Appendix F in the Online Supporting Materials.
References
Abizadeh, A. 2008. Democratic Theory and Border Coercion: No Right to Unilaterally Control Your Own Borders. Political Theory 36 (1): 37–65.
Albertazzi, D., and S. Mueller. 2013. Populism and Liberal Democracy: Populists in Government in Austria, Italy, Poland and Switzerland. Government and Opposition 48 (3): 343–371.
Altemeyer, B. 1981. Right-Wing Authoritarianism. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press.
Anduiza, E., M. Guinjoan, and G. Rico. 2019. Populism, Participation and Political Equality. European Political Science Review 11 (1): 109–124.
Aytaç, S.E., and A. Çarko. 2020. Partisanship, Elite Messages, and Support for Populism in Power. European Political Science Review 13: 1–17.
Batory, A. 2016. Populists in Government? Hungary’s “System of National Cooperation.” Democratization 23 (2): 283–303.
Berlin, I. 1969. Four Essays on Liberty. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bornschier, S. 2010. Cleavage Politics and the Populist Right: The New Cultural Conflict in Western Europe. Cleavage Politics and the Populist Right: The New Cultural Conflict in Western Europe. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Canovan, M. 1981. Populism. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Canovan, M. 1999. Trust the People! Populism and the Two Faces of Democracy. Political Studies 47 (1): 2–16.
Castanho Silva, B., I. Andreadis, E. Anduiza, N. Blanuša, Y.M. Corti, G. Delfino, G. Rico, S.P. Ruth, B. Spruyt, M. Steenbergen, and L. Littvay. 2019. Public Opinion Surveys: A New Measure. In The Ideational Approach to Populism Concept, Theory, and Analysis, ed. K.A. Hawkins, R.E. Carlin, L. Levente, and C. Rovira-Kaltwasser, 150–178. Oxon and New York: Routledge.
Coppedge, M., J. Gerring, D. Altman, M. Bernhard, S. Fish, A. Hicken, M. Kroenig, S.I. Lindberg, K. McMann, P. Paxton, H.A. Semetko, S.E. Skaaning, J. Staton, and J. Teorell. 2011. Conceptualizing and Measuring Democracy: A New Approach. Perspectives on Politics 9 (2): 247–267.
de la Torre, C. 2000. Populist Seduction in Latin America: The Ecuadorian Experience. Athens: Ohio University Center for International Studies (Research in international studies).
de Lange, S.L. 2007. A New Winning Formula? Party Politics 13 (4): 411–435.
Fallend, F. 2012. Populism in Government: The Case of Austria (2000–2007). In Populism in Europe and the Americas: Threat or Corrective for Democracy?, 113–135. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Font, N., P. Graziano, and M. Tsakatika. 2021. Varieties of Inclusionary Populism? SYRIZA, Podemos and the Five Star Movement. Government and Opposition. Cambridge University Press 56 (1): 163–183.
Formisano, R. 2016. The Populist Tsunami of the Second Gilded Age. Forum (germany) 14 (3): 281–294.
Foweraker, J., and R. Krznaric. 2000. Measuring Liberal Democratic Performance: An Empirical and Conceptual Critique. Political Studies 48 (4): 759–787.
Galais, C., and I. Serrano. 2020. The Effects of Regional Attachment on Ideological Self-placement: A Comparative Approach. Comparative European Politics 18: 487–509.
Galston, W.A. 2018. Anti-Pluralism. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Grzymala-Busse, A. 2019. How Populists Rule: The Consequences for Democratic Governance. Polity 51 (4): 707.
Guinjoan, M., and T. Rodon. 2016. A Scrutiny of the Linz-Moreno Question. Publius: The Journal of Federalism 46 (1): 128–142.
Hawkins, K.A. 2010. Venezuela’s Chavismo and Populism in Comparative Perspective. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
Hawkins, K.A., C.R. Kaltwasser, and I. Andreadis. 2020. The Activation of Populist Attitudes. Government and Opposition. Cambridge University Press 55 (2): 283–307.
Hawkins, K.A., and C. Rovira-Kaltwasser. 2019. Introduction: The Ideational Approach. In The Ideational Approach to Populism Concept, Theory, and Analysis, ed. K.A. Hawkins, R.E. Carlin, L. Littvay, and C. Rovira-Kaltwasser. New York: Routledge.
Heinisch, R., and C. Wegscheider. 2020. Disentangling How Populism and Radical Host Ideologies Shape Citizens’ Conceptions of Democratic Decision-Making. Politics and Governance 8 (3): 32–44.
Houle, C., and P.D. Kenny. 2018. The Political and Economic Consequences of Populist Rule in Latin America. Government and Opposition 53 (2): 256–287.
Huber, R.A., and S.P. Ruth. 2017. Mind the Gap! Populism, Participation and Representation in Europe. Swiss Political Science Review 23 (4): 462–484.
Huber, R.A., and C.H. Schimpf. 2017. On the Distinct Effects of Left-Wing and Right-Wing Populism on Democratic Quality. Politics and Governance 5 (4): 146–165.
Inglehart, R., and P. Norris. 2017. Trump and the Populist Authoritarian Parties: The Silent Revolution in Reverse. Perspectives on Politics 15 (2): 443–454.
Katsambekis, G. 2017. The Populist Surge in Post-Democratic Times: Theoretical and Political Challenges. Political Quarterly 88 (2): 202–210.
Katz, R.S., and P. Mair. 1995. Changing Models of Party Organization and Party Democracy: The Emergence of the Cartel Party. Party Politics 1 (1): 5–28.
Kenny, P.D. 2017. Populism and Patronage. Why Populists Win Elections in India, Asia and Beyond. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kenny, P.D. 2019. ‘“The Enemy of the People”: Populists and Press Freedom.’ Comparative Politics.
Kriesi, H., and T.S. Pappas, eds. 2015. European Populism in the Shadow of the Great Recession. Colchester: ECPR Press.
Kymlicka, W. 1995. Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Laclau, E. 2005. Populism: What’s in a Name? In Populism and the Mirror of Democracy, ed. F. Panizza, 32–49. London: Verso.
Lefkofridi, Z., M. Wagner, and J.E. Willmann. 2014. Left-Authoritarians and Policy Representation in Western Europe: Electoral Choice Across Ideological Dimensions. West European Politics 37 (1): 65–90.
Liñeira, R., J. Muñoz, and G. Rico. 2020. Inferring Party Positions Across Issue Dimensions. Party Politics. 27: 1031.
Lührmann, A., Düpont, N., Higashijima, M., Kavasoglu, Y. B., Marquardt, K. L., Bernhard, M., Döring, H., Hicken, A., Laebens, M., Lindberg, S. I., Medzihorsky, J., Neundorf, A., Reuter, O. J., Ruth-Lovell, S., Weghorst, K. R., Wiesehomeier, N., Wright, J., Alizada, N., Bederke, P., Gastaldi, L., Grahn, S., Hindle, G., Ilchenko, N., Römer, J. von, Wilson, S., Pemstein, D. and Seim, B. 2020. ‘Varieties of Party Identity and Organization (V-Party) Dataset V1.’ Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project.
Markowski, R. 2016. The Polish Parliamentary Election of 2015: A Free and Fair Election that Results in Unfair Political Consequences. West European Politics 39 (6): 1311–1322.
Moreno, L. 1995. Multiple Ethnoterritorial Concurrence in Spain. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics 1 (1): 11–32.
Mouffe, C. 2000. The Democratic Paradox. London: Verso.
Mouffe, C. 2013. Agonistics: Thinking the World Politically. London: Verso.
Mudde, C. 2004. The Populist Zeitgeist. Government and Opposition 39 (4): 542–563.
Mudde, C., and C. Rovira Kaltwasser. 2012a. Populism: Corrective and Threat to Democracy. In Populism in Europe and the Americas: Threat or Corrective for Democracy?, ed. C. Mudde and C. Rovira Kaltwasser, 205–222. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Mudde, C., and C. Rovira Kaltwasser. 2012b. Populism and (Liberal) Democracy: A Framework for Analysis. In Populism in Europe and the Americas: Threat or Corrective for Democracy?, ed. C. Mudde and C. Rovira Kaltwasser, 1–26. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Mudde, C., and C. Rovira Kaltwasser. 2013. Exclusionary vs. Inclusionary Populism: Comparing Contemporary Europe and Latin America. Government and Opposition 48 (02): 147–174.
Mudde, C., and C. Rovira Kaltwasser. 2014. Populism and Political Leadership. In The Oxford Handbook of Political Leadership, ed. R.A.W. Rhodes and P. Hart, 772. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pappas, T.S. 2008. Political Leadership and the Emergence of Radical Mass Movements in Democracy. Comparative Political Studies 41: 1117.
Pappas, T.S. 2014. Populist Democracies: Post-Authoritarian Greece and Post-Communist Hungary. Government and Opposition 49 (01): 1–23.
Pappas, T.S. 2019. Populism and Liberal Democracy. A Comparative and Theoretical Analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Philip, G., and F. Panizza. 2011. The Triumph of Politics: The Return of the Left in Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador. Cambridge: Polity.
Rama, J., and F. Casal Bértoa. 2020. Are Anti-Political-Establishment Parties a Peril for European Democracy? A Longitudinal Study from 1950 till 2017. Representation 56 (3): 387–410.
Rico, G., M. Guinjoan, and E. Anduiza. 2019. Empowered and Enraged: Political Efficacy, Anger, and Support for Populism in Europe. European Journal of Political Research. 59: 797.
Rodríguez-Teruel, J., A. Barrio, and O. Barberà. 2016. Fast and Furious: Podemos’ Quest for Power in Multi-level Spain. South European Society and Politics 21 (4): 561–585.
Rovira Kaltwasser, C., and S.M. Van Hauwaert. 2020. The Populist Citizen: Empirical Evidence from Europe and Latin America. European Political Science Review 12: 1–18.
Rucht, D. 2019. Right-Wing Populism in Context. In Populism and the Crisis of Democracy Volume 2: Politics, 67–84. Social Movements and Extremism. Oxon: Routledge.
Rummens, S. 2017. Populism as a Threat to Liberal Democracy. In The Oxford Handbook of populism, ed. C. Rovira-Kaltwasser, P. Taggart, P. Ochoa Espejo, and P. Ostiguy, 554–569. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Slothuus, R., and M. Bisgaard. 2021. How Political Parties Shape Public Opinion in the Real World. American Journal of Political Science 65 (4): 896–911.
Spittler, M. (2018) Are Right-Wing Populist Parties a Threat to Democracy? Democracy and Crisis: Challenges in Turbulent Times. Springer, Cham, pp. 97–121.
Stavrakakis, Y., and G. Katsambekis. 2014. Left-Wing Populism in the European Periphery: The Case of SYRIZA. Journal of Political Ideologies 19 (2): 119–142.
Taggart, P. 2000. Populism. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Tännsjö, T. 1992. Populist Democracy: A Defence. London: Routledge.
Turnbull-Dugarte, S.J., J. Rama, and A. Santana. 2020. The Baskerville’s Dog Suddenly Started Barking: Voting for VOX in the 2019 Spanish General Elections. Political Research Exchange 2 (1): 1–22.
Urbinati, N. 1998. Democracy and Populism. Constellations 5 (1): 110–124.
Urbinati, N. 2019. Political Theory of Populism. Annual Reviews 22: 111–127.
Vachudova, M.A. 2021. Populism, Democracy, and Party System Change in Europe. Annual Review of Political Science 24: 471–498.
Van Hauwaert, S.M., and S. Van Kessel. 2018. Beyond Protest and Discontent: A Cross-National analysis of the Effect of Populist Attitudes and Issue Positions on Populist Party Support. European Journal of Political Research 57 (1): 68–92.
Vergara, C. 2020. Populism as Plebeian Politics: Inequality, Domination, and Popular Empowerment. The Journal of Political Philosophy 28 (2): 222–246.
Vittori, D. 2021. Threat or Corrective? Assessing the Impact of Populist Parties in Government on the Qualities of Democracy: A 19-Country Comparison. Government and Opposition. 19: 1–21.
Weyland, K. 2013. The Threat from the Populist Left Latin America’s Authoritarian Drift The Threat from the Populist Left. Journal of Democracy 24 (3): 18–32.
Weyland, K. 2020. Populism’s Threat to Democracy: Comparative Lessons for the United States. Perspectives on Politics 18: 389.
Wiles, P. 1969. A Syndrome, Not a Doctrine: Some Elementary Theses on Populism. In Populism: Its Meaning and National Characteristics, ed. G. Ionescu and E. Gellner, 166–179. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
Wolkenstein, F. 2019. Populism, Liberal Democracy and the Ethics of Peoplehood. European Journal of Political Theory 18 (3): 330–348.
Wuttke, A., C. Schimpf, and H. Schoen. 2020. When the Whole is Greater Than the Sum of its Parts: On the Conceptualization and Measurement of Populist Attitudes and Other Multi-dimensional Constructs. American Political Science Review 114 (2): 356–374.
Zaslove, A., B. Geurkink, K. Jacobs, and A. Akkerman. 2020. Power to the People? Populism, Democracy, and Political Participation: A Citizen’s Perspective. West European Politics. 44: 727.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The author states no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Guinjoan, M. How ideology shapes the relationship between populist attitudes and support for liberal democratic values. Evidence from Spain. Acta Polit 58, 401–423 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41269-022-00252-9
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41269-022-00252-9