Populism is a central concept in the current media debates about politics and elections. However, like most political buzzwords, the term often floats from one meaning to another, and both social scientists and journalists use it to denote diverse phenomena. What is populism really? Who are the populist leaders? What is the relationship between populism and democracy?

Populism: A Very Short Introduction presents populism as an ideology that divides society into two antagonistic camps: the “pure people” versus the “corrupt elite,” and that privileges popular sovereignty above all else. It illustrates the practical power of this ideology by describing populist movements of the modern era—European right-wing parties, left-wing presidents in Latin America, and the Tea Party movement in the United States—and charismatic populist leaders such as Juan Domingo Péron, H. Ross Perot, Silvio Berlusconi, and Hugo Chávez. Although populism is ultimately part of democracy, populist forces constitute an increasing challenge to democratic politics.

在当前媒体关于政治和选举的辩论中，民粹主义是一个核心概念。然而，就像大多数政治流行语一样，这个词经常从一个意思漂移到另一个意思，社会科学家和记者都用它来表示不同的现象。民粹主义到底是什么？谁是民粹主义领导人？民粹主义和民主之间有什么关系？

民粹主义。简要介绍》将民粹主义作为一种意识形态，将社会分为两个对立的阵营："纯粹的人民 "与 "腐败的精英"，并将人民的主权置于一切之上。它通过描述现代的民粹主义运动--欧洲的右翼政党、拉丁美洲的左翼总统和美国的茶党运动--以及胡安-多明戈-佩隆、H-罗斯-佩罗、西尔维奥-贝卢斯科尼和乌戈-查韦斯等富有魅力的民粹主义领导人，来说明这种意识形态的实际力量。尽管民粹主义最终是民主的一部分，但民粹主义力量对民主政治构成了越来越大的挑战。