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I would like to speak briefly about the rise of populism in Europe, comparing Western Europe with Central and Eastern Europe, giving attention both to political parties and ideology. I would also like to add some comparison with populism in South America. Let us start not with a definition of populism but the idea that the core ideological appeal of populism is as an alternative to consensus-oriented liberal centrism. The political evolution of Western European political parties in the second half of the 20th century was obviously towards consensus-oriented liberal centrism. It brought with it at all times the possibility or risk of attack on the system from either side. Populism is ideologically eclectic and can find an entry point either from the left or the right.
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No matter how we define populism, we should mention one of its basic assumptions: that the will of the people should be fully represented in the political process. The will of the people should not be frustrated, disregarded or reinterpreted by representatives and intermediaries. When we take into account this basic assumption, it seems that populism is the political ideal of adequate and full representation of the people – and in our analysis we should take into account this kind of normative claim. But when we take it into account, it becomes apparent that if we ask the question of whether populism is dangerous or not, we will get very contextual answers because this depends very much on the will of the people in a particular political environment and in a particular society.
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The purpose of this text is to propose several theses on populism in Bulgaria today. The Bulgarian political debate seems obsessed with the subject. Hence, the need to elucidate the phenomenon of populism in Bulgaria is obvious and does not require justification. To achieve my goal, I will use the tools of political theory and its history rather than the much more commonly applied approaches to populism from the perspective of sociology, comparative political studies, transitology studies, etc.
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