The populist threat to liberal democracy
Populism is no longer considered a disease of the developing world. In recent decades it has spread throughout Europe and North America, while maintaining its grip on its historical stronghold, Latin America. Populism now represents the biggest threat to the survival of liberal democracy. However, confusion about what it means prevails, even among academics. Unlike communism, which attacked democracy frontally and sometimes violently, populism works from within by appealing to negative emotions that weaken society’s cultural antibodies.