THE CONCEPT OF POPULISM: A POLITICAL ASPECT OF DEMOCRATIC SYSTEMS

Abstract

The study of populism is actualized by the presence of a social order from interested political actors who use populism to implement their programs and in the struggle for power, focusing on the possibilities of change and reform.             The relevance of the study is obvious given the lack of comprehensive study of populism in Ukraine, proper political evaluation of previous studies, rethinking some theses of individual researchers, and especially in connection with its actualization as one of the popular principles in action, behavior in modern political practice and our state.             Today in Ukraine, the intensification and emergence of new manifestations of populism have become a sign of a general long-term failure on the path of technological modernization, in efforts to achieve rapid economic growth and in the fight against corruption. The tendency to the increasingly negative attitude of many citizens to complex and compromise procedures of democratic institutions, the desire for quick and simple solutions, intolerance of different views contain a double threat - to roll into anarchy or establish an authoritarian regime.             Thus, populism can be considered an inevitable companion of political freedom and democracy. In some places, it is a force that promotes political participation and reform in the interests of many low-status social groups. By inclining to oppose the rights of the majority to the interests and rights of certain minorities, populism can be a threat to the rule of law and basic political and civil liberties. Wherever populist leaders gained power, it became authoritarian, accompanied by abuses and oppression (but not destruction) of the opposition.