In the Name of the People? Why Study Populism Today

Abstract

The aim of this article is to determine whether there is such as a thing as “populism” and if proper conceptual boundaries can be drawn for it with an acceptable degree of precision, so as to transform it into a suitable object of study for contemporary political science. (The relative marginality of populism studies in the field of political science is remarkable given the antiquity of the thing, which is as old as politics itself). The article argues that populism is a legitimate political phenomenon and that it is not a hybrid concept nor an historical atavism; lastly, the piece attempts to organize the field of populism studies and to identify some lines for future research.