The Rise of Populism in Europe: Threat or Democratic Awakening?

Watching European politics today, it's really difficult not to notice the rise of populism.

Political parties and leaders once dismissed as outsiders are now elected and chosen by the majority, getting more and more powerful. Some of them have become major oppositions to the current governments, and some have even won national debates and elections. These are the people questioning the very foundations of liberal democracy. But the real question is whether these are signals of a democratic crisis or the beginning of a much-needed democratic awakening.

What in Fact is Populism?

To understand the current political situation, we must first look back at what does it mean. Populism is a political approach that emphasizes the idea of a unified "people" and often contrasts them against a perceived "elite" or establishment. It's not a specific ideology but rather a style of politics that can be adopted by various groups across the political spectrum. Populism often involves presenting the "people" as morally good and the elite as corrupt or self-serving. They are left and right populists. The left wing populists are also known as social populists and the right wing ones are knowns as national populists. Populism does not always have to be extreme, but it is almost never centrist.

Examples from Europe are Pablo Iglesias, one of the founders and leaders of the left-wing party Podemos in the EU parlament back in 2014. Another one is Victor Orbán. He and his party Fidesz campaigned primarily on the issues of immigration and foreign meddling, and the election outcome was seen as a victory for right-wing populism in Europe.

Why is it Raising Now?

What exactly is making Europe so susceptible nowadays, and how are all of these populists rising slowly and trying to get on the political stage even more boldly than before?

Mainly, the focus of the crowd is on economic, migrational, and cultural identity problems. But how is the connection made? Pretty easy, in fact. Let's look at it this way: European citizens are so tired of immigrants, not that they don't like them at all, but they don't agree with the way the European Union handles them. Most of them struggle with the fact that the governments are overly tolerant towards them. For example, all the financial aid that they're getting is making some people really angry because their standard of living is getting so expensive each year. The salaries are the same, but the taxes, a big percentage of them, are going for the immigrants, their children, and their entire support. And on a basic human level, no matter how much respect you have towards everyone's bad situation, you instinctively would put yourself and your family in first place. And when the government starts to show more engagement to people different from their own, of course there are going to be conflicts on the inside. That's exactly when the populists pop up, trying through propaganda to gain more supporters, votes, and glory on the backs of people's pain and problems. But let's dive deep into the essence of their actions and consequences.

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Is That a Threat to the Democracy?

One way to look into the situation is to analyze it as the undermining of the rule of law. Let's look at Hungary, for example. They are a European Union country with every privilege of the Union like everybody else but still have a government working against democratic ideologies.

Their leader Orban is a big open populist who is trying to manipulate his citizens into believing his ideas and actions which are not even close to their benefit. His main goal for now is staying close to Moscow and doing as much as he can in their favor. But how is this okay and why is he still doing this? Orban has been on the political stage for more than 25 years and is the current prime minister of Hungary. He is not only that, but also the leader of the Fidesz party, which has the majority of voters for the moment. He has been doing his political job for more than two-thirds of his life and has built a large audience in the form of his citizens. The main problem with him is that he is not working for his own country's interests, but the Russians'. In 2018, when he was elected, there were big protests against him, nearly 100 thousand people were outside on the Hungarian streets hoping they could change something and make the future for their children better. Sadly, they did not take him out of office, and years later he is still there making some questionable decisions. The results of his actions are perfect examples of how populism makes people's lives worse and nothing close to better than before.

Or Democrating Awaking?

We are entering a new era of history, full of trials, tribulations, and interesting twists. In times like these, it's really critical how we handle populistic appearances like the one in Serbia. This is the time for young people to become active in every way possible. It's our time to go out to protest, vote, and be engaged in everything that is happening in the political fields. In the last few years, we, as a European society, have become so apathetic about events like elections and injustices. Maybe the lack of results after protests has a big impact on the activity of the citizens, but it's not a reason to stop fighting. Fighting for us, our children, and our future. Because if you don't want to deal with politics, politics will deal with you.