Popular: Democratic Democracy?

Written by: Khayi Rivera Villazkuiz*

For more than ten years, there has been a lot of talk about populism all over the world, first in immature democracies and shortly after the bed of modern democracy: Europe and North America. This new popular wave resulted in multiple academic studies and general discussions to try to understand the origin, nature and the potential future of that phenomenon.

It was one of the leading studies Jean Werner Mullerand What is populism? books Stephen Levitsky Y Daniel Ziplat; How do democracies die?To Ann Abbomand Democracy? And many other works of these authors themselves, as well as Maria Esperanza Cassoloand Why do popcus?To Musa Nayem; Return the powerful match Y Nadia UrbinesI, I, people, among others.

In Mexico, valuable studies were published on similar operations. What these common actions share is concern about the deterioration or destruction of democracy from within: the popularity of our time in democracies is generated, and its rules are used, and if they reach the government, from power, they pledge to dismantle institutions to impose a form of tyranny.

One of the distinctive features of popularity begins to speak. Political life is “explained” (although it will be more accurate to say that it is ambiguous) than the concept of a bilateral branching between “we” and “they”. “We” are always people. They are different: they are usually an elite, a few, but they can also be immigrants, a political class or I woke up. Muller Restore an idea of Paul Valerie This sees in the word “people” the truth of the “mixture”, because their homogeneity is an illusion. Therefore, it is strange that the French poet is to talk about “the sovereignty of the mixture” or “the will of the mixture.”

Beyond Word Game, the relevant thing in this scheme is the simplification loaded with value; Good and bad. There is no society divided into two groups. Each contemporary society has multiple sections: sex, layers, income, educational, religious, and ethnicity. Fantasy or popular story meets diversity and is limited to two parts: they and us, or, in the opposite arrangement, we and people and antipueblo.

This manichaean classification is loaded with a value bias. We are always good and victim. They are bad and victim. It is a story, discourse, or imagination that works, as it raises Esperanza Cassolo.

It works because it provides a distorted explanation of the political and social reality. In this ambiguity, in what the author calls the popular legend, there are always three factors: hero, villain and damage. With this, it includes a second feature of populism: the United States is represented by a leader. All populism is characterized by strong leadership.

Another advantage of populism is the contempt of institutions. This hinders the leader, because the essence of institutions is the criteria and includes these limits. The classic principle of the separation of power, which was perceived to avoid the concentration of political power in one entity, because the popular leader is unacceptable if it involves effective borders of his authority.

What the populist leader wants is to focus specifically on himself. This is the reason for the independence of the judiciary and the legislative power hinders it. Of course, independent constitutional bodies of this and their equivalent. Under populist policy, the provision or disappearance of institutions that balance energy balance can reach varying degrees and rhythms.

His disappearance can be the truth, as happened in Venezuela, or to take gradual and weakening harassment, although the names of the Republic’s powers are preserved as a façade.

Most specialized analyzes agree that the popularity of our time is a product of democracy. I was born in it, taking advantage of the freedoms that it provides and condemns by exaggerating the defects that each political system requires.

In fact, the populists do not announce the end of democracy; On the contrary, they are considered “real democracy” or democracy “people”, without the annoying limits or the budget for liberal democracy. They change the adjective, impose democracy and impose tyranny.

In competition for power, populist is a simple and rapid solution to social problems, and when there is enough people who believe it, even for a while, it can take a step to tyranny without return. When yesterday realizes the deception, it is too late.

*INE Adviser