Populism as limit-democracy from the book "The Populism Century"

history, theory and critique by Pierre Rosanvallon

Abstract

The 21st century can be considered the century of the rise of populism, a political and social phenomenon that destroys democractic institutions and systems in the name of political power. In this Regard, in 2020, one of the most important theorists of democracy, Pierre Rosanvallon, published the work The Century of Populism with the aim of understanding, in a complex and systemic way, the characteristics and risks of populist leaders. Thus, from a deep vision that goes through a sociological, historical, and critical look, the theory presented in this book is linked to democratic indeterminacy, that is, the idea that democracy has paradoxes and ambiguities, opening spaces for populism to be born within itself.