Left populist parties articulate a recognizable shared repertoire across distinct formations

Evidence

Populism can never be a “pure” phenomenon, however. The protagonists of this book have all, to some extent, created hybrid forms of politics between the social democratic, communist, and populist traditions. All of them, however, have gone through at least one specific moment in their development in which the populist approach was dominant. All of them were forced to construct “the people” as a political subject and find a charismatic leader to embody their hopes, dreams and demands; all of them fed on the strong antagonism between this popular subject and a power bloc; all of them called for the expansion of rights and economic redistribution to popular sectors; all of them sought mass participation across classes; and, finally, all of them rose up during moments of democratic crises. To accomplish its populist turn, the left wore different organizational clothes, from brand-new political formations (Podemos) to radical innovations within pre-existing marginal parties (Syriza, La France insoumise), to strategies aiming at conquering intra-party leadership within established mainstream parties (Corbyn, Sanders). — Arthur Borriello and Anton Jäger, The Populist Moment, 81

Categorization

• DEFINE: Lay-out of the shared populist repertoire that defines the movements across cases.
• XREF: connects to: European populist-left parties revived mass political enthusiasm around charismatic leaders — Arthur Borriello and Anton Jäger, The Populist Moment: The Left After the…, 119