In my home country Sweden, I used to think that the rise of the "sweden democrats" (a right wing populist party) was a sign of growing support for their views.

In my home country Sweden, I used to think that the rise of the "sweden democrats" (a right wing populist party) was a sign of growing support for their views. I have recently reconsidered that view. I think what we see today are things that never went away. I may be alone in this, by I regard the right wing populism as a democratisation of society. Not because I like the views voiced by the people representing that part of the spectrum, but because it introduces a large part of the population to the public debate. I think that we, in 30 years, will look back at the rise of right wing populism as a symptom of a positive development. The populist parties do get a lot of votes, and if anything I believe that is a sign that the voters have not felt represented by the power. Which, in turn, I also believe is why the populist party supporters are so loud. If I actually believed that the government did not represent the people, I would be loud as well. When the "anti establishment" has become the establishment I think the democratic process will end up being stronger with a discussion climate that better represents the population.