6 ms·

I live in the U.S., and I've never heard "populist" used pejoratively. Where are you from and what does it connote when used pejoratively in your country?

• tylee78 14y ago
  one example: it is used that way in Germany and applied (mostly) to right wing parties
• andreasvc 14y ago
  Here in Europe it's used to refer to politicians who pander to the sentiments of the common people, without having a well thought out long-term strategy; e.g., "I'll lower all taxes AND give free healthcare for all."
  • deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
• opminion 14y ago
  Europe. It usually means when one tries to grab votes at the cost of doing what's "correct" from one's point of view. A stereotypical case would be providing "bread and circus" in the short term while the country is sinking in the mid term. The following headlines are example use of "populist" with negative connotations (they are not the only ones, I just provide anecdotal evidence of the common use of "populist" as a negative trait). British English: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17837098 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17837098 http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/house_of_lords/newsid_9614000/9614768.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/house_of_lords/newsid... (beware starts parliamentary video automatically) http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/23/punitive-populism-riots-gangs http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/23/punitive... French: http://www.lemonde.fr/idees/ensemble/2012/02/09/le-populisme-derive-de-la-democratie_1640482_3232.html http://www.lemonde.fr/idees/ensemble/2012/02/09/le-populisme... Spanish: http://www.abc.es/20120515/opinion/abcp-populista-eres-20120515.html http://www.abc.es/20120515/opinion/abcp-populista-eres-20120...
• Confusion 14y ago
  In Europe, 'populist' is basically the lowbrow version of 'demagogue'.