Defining Populism Through Turkey's Erdogan

Abstract

Although used very commonly, there is no consensus on defining populism in the academia. This study investigates the universality of two prominent approaches to defining populism. The dominant approach, the ideational approach argues that populism is a set of ideas that emphasizes on the notions of ‘the people,’ ‘the elite,’ and the will of the people. There are quantitative and qualitative methods developed for detecting and measuring populism in ideational approach. The second approach is the strategic approach, which argues that populism is a political strategy to build and maintain power. In order to differentiate it from other political strategies, scholars put forward different characteristics by studying different instances of populism. This study tests the universality of the two definitions by applying them with their own methods to Turkey’s Erdoğan. Erdoğan is considered populist by the both approaches. The result is that populism is not an ideology or a set of ideas, rather a political strategy to hold on to power, while it also disproves most of the characteristics strategic approach.