Ideology
Left-Wing PopulismLeft
Casts politics as a struggle between ordinary people and a self-serving elite, and favors redistribution, stronger public services and curbs on concentrated wealth.
Core ideas
- Politics is framed as the common people against an elite or establishment.
- Economic democracy and redistribution are priorities, with more weight on social justice than on socialist theory.
- Skepticism toward economic globalization and unregulated capital.
- Compared with right-wing populism, it tends to back minority rights and a nationality not defined by ethnicity or culture.
- A strong figure or movement is often presented as speaking for the majority.
Where it sits on the 12 axes
It sits moderately toward Collectivize on the economy axis (econ 60 on Collectivize/Privatize) and toward Security on the government axis (govt 70 on Security/Freedom), reflecting a preference for a strong state acting on behalf of the people. Diplomacy is slightly toward Nationalism (dipl 40 on Internationalism/Nationalism) and society is centred (scty 50 on Progressive/Traditional). The test measures only the distance across these four axes, and the closest ideology is the one reported.
The bar shows the position on each of the four axes an ideology is matched on; the middle mark is the centre.
History
An early example was the People's Party, active in the 1890s and 1900s, whose members were called Populists. It grew out of an agrarian movement that joined farmers, laborers and middle-class activists during a period of labor unrest. Left populism is described mainly by its anti-elite style, economic democracy and distrust of globalization. Debate over a new left populism grew during the European debt crisis of the 2010s. Socialist theory plays a smaller part here than in older left ideologies.
Common misunderstandings
- It is not the same as right-wing populism. Both use anti-elite language, but the two differ on economics, on minority rights and on who counts as one of the people.
- Populist does not mean unserious or demagogic by definition. In political science it describes a style that contrasts the people with an elite, and it can attach to different goals.
Related ideologies
Is Left-Wing Populism your closest ideology?
Take the test and see which of the ideologies your answers sit closest to.
Questions
What is Left-Wing Populism?
A political outlook that combines left-wing economics with populist rhetoric. It frames society as ordinary people against an elite and stresses economic democracy, social justice, public services and skepticism of globalization.
Is Left-Wing Populism left or right?
Left, by its economics: redistribution and public services. But its populist side is about the people against the elite, a style that is not tied to either side, so a single left-right axis is not enough to describe it.
Left-Wing Populism vs right-wing populism?
Both set the people against an elite. The left version stresses redistribution, economic democracy and minority rights and an inclusive idea of nationality. The right version stresses cultural or ethnic identity and national borders.
How does the 12 Axes test decide I am Left-Wing Populism?
It compares your economy, government, diplomacy and society scores with the four values stored for each ideology. The smallest total distance wins, and nothing else, such as the labels on other axes, is used.