Abstract Book of the 2nd International Conference on Social Sciences
Year: 2025
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A Consideration of Populism as Rhetoric and Strategy and Its Relationship with Democracy
Marsida Minga
ABSTRACT:
The term ‘populism’ occupies a very important place today in the field of political philosophy but also in the epistemology of communication. Populism remains a controversial concept even if it is used as a discursive strategy, challenging the tradition of representation in the field of political rhetoric. Democracy has become, on the one hand, the target of the disadvantaged classes towards politics in which they no longer see a horizon of emancipation but an instrument for the legitimization of inequalities, but also of the widespread intolerance of the elites towards the consensus of the masses. In this approach, the field of interest of this paper is expressed through the research question: what does the populist rhetoric-reality relationship produce in the field of the social model of democracy? What does populist rhetoric produce and does this affect the correction of democracy or does it remain a threat? Thus, by analyzing the dialectic of the binomial populism versus elitism and the interactions and rhetoric that are produced in this context, this paper aims to provide a philosophical-political analysis of populist practices and the forms that the populist narrative takes and the political consequences it brings, analyzing the reasons for the rise of populism and populist narratives and the implication for democracy.
Keywords: Populism; Political Rhetoric; Political Strategy; Democracy; Social Polarization