Vox populi vox Dei. Teoria populizmu politycznego

Abstract

In democratic states, where authority is earned from the will of nation, the social and political life of people concentrates around the problem how to win others over to realize one’s own intention. Individual actors of the political scene use various catches: they announce demagogic platitude, and “feed” people promises which cannot be kept, and the purpose of this endeavour is to win as many followers as possible. Such behaviors are defined by a name of populism, increasing particularly during electoral campaign. In the article the author performs a theoretical analysis of a stream called populism, defines it and makes an attempt to indicate its characteristics. Also the evolution stages of populism are detailed and its kinds depending on the world part in which it arose are described. Making an attempt to research populism, one should ascertain that it has been listed permanently in the social and political life of states. It has already become almost a formal procedure, used by political actors to raise their attractiveness in electoral competition.