Literature dealing with the phenomenon of populism is riddled with different approaches to studying it and views on its nature. Today, it is most commonly understood as a thin-centered ideology that divides society into two homogeneous and opposing camps – the »pure people« and the »corrupt elite«. It is an ambivalent phenomenon that, on the one hand, threatens the rule of law, democratic institutions, and pluralism, and on the other, reveals the crisis of modern liberal democracies and highlights their shortcomings. The emergence of populism is linked to a combination of three key factors: the structure of modern democracy, social (especially political and economic) crises, and the influence of charismatic leaders in conjunction with the mass media.
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