Identity as a theoretical concept in social sciences has evolved from a status of derivative importance into an essential and autonomous notion performing at present an important role that explains some processes of the contemporary world. According to Renata Dopierała, generally identity can be defined as a reflective attitude of an individual to himself, created by the necessity of self-characteristic building a system of ideas, opinions, convictions, etc., that corresponds with the given social context. However, the answer to the question: What is identity?, is not so obvious as some can expect. The relationship between identity, interests, preferences, and loyalty is also not so clear. Shortly speaking, identity can be also perceived as a self-conception rooted in the society, our attitude and relation to others. Its integral parts are two main components: individual and social.

Populism became a signi! cant factor of political debates in Eastern and Western countries of the EU and a new force in European party systems in the nineties. The frame for the discussion on populism is made by the representative form of democracy and responding to it dual system of media of communication. The popularity of populist parties and movements nowadays reflects the crisis of representative democracy. It is accompanied by the growing role of media in politics, which might be seen as the result of citizens’ dissatisfaction with the existing models of intermediation. The media also play a crucial role in the process of identity creation, at the same moment they illustrate the dificulty of defining identity anew.

Populist rhetoric in the parliamentary election campaign in the Czech Republic from 2017

The paper presents the history of the populist dimension. Populism is depicted in this article as a phenomenon with many planes of conceptualization. In order to combine the considerations of populism and the party system, Czech groups have been investigated, which can be included in the current commonly called modern populism in modern politics. The subject of the study was not marginal groups, including detached parties, and those which have been present on the Czech political scene since 1993: ČSSD, ODS, TOP09, KDU-ČSL, ANO 2011, KSČM.

The objective of this paper is to analyze two research tools applied in the social sciences for quantitative and qualitative studies respectively, namely codebook, or coding scheme, and individual in-depth interview – in terms of their applicability for studies of populist political communication. To this end, three codebooks serving as the tools of media content analysis in the above-mentioned international studies conducted in Europe in 2012 – 2017 are critically reviewed, and the structure of a questionnaire for in-depth interviews planned within the COST Action IS1308 Populist Political Communication in Europe: Comprehending the Challenge of Mediated Political Populism for Democratic Politics is analyzed.

In recent years, the amount of empirical research on populism has increased dramatically. The purpose of this text is to analyze these strands of existing research on populism which employ qualitative methods. Additionally, the paper discusses their basic categories and research design, and highlights the advantages and drawbacks of each of these approaches. The paper presents the three most influential trends in qualitative research on populism: ideology analysismorphological approach, discourse theory, and historical-discursive analysis.

Populism is a multi-disciplinary research issue, especially as politics is concerned, present both in the social sciences and linguistics. Examined from different angles, it exhibits its semantic ambiguity and lack of a single definition. It is essential for cross-disciplinary studies to determine the definition of populism, which will also make it possible to determine the scope of the phenomenon under research. Such a possibility is ensured by the syndromized understanding of populism and by taking into account its manifestations on different levels of political discourse, including linguistic exponents, sender-recipient relations and a specific image of the world created within the framework of this discourse. The application of cognitive methodology in studies offers one of many research perspectives allowing populist discourse to be characterized from an interdisciplinary perspective, including a political-linguistic approach.

In 2015, so-called double (i.e., presidential and parliamentary) elections were held in Poland. The unquestionable winner of these elections was Law and Justice [Prawo i Sprawiedliwość], using slogans such as “good change” or “we’ll make it” in the campaign. The leitmotif of this campaign was discrediting any activities, including achievements, of the Civic Platform [Platforma Obywatelska] / Polish Peasant Party [Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe] coalition, addressing a “simple man” or the nation, and pointing out the need to involve the state institutions to implement the “good change” in favor of the “simple man”. Thus, Law and Justice adopted the anti-elitist position, pointing to the “pathologies of democracy in Poland”, mainly caused by the rule of the Liberals. Initiating the populist style of thinking was one of the reasons for the party’s success. This was an interesting research problem for us, especially that Law and Justice gained the trust of many young voters, aged 18–24.
The success of Kukiz’15 Election Committee, based on the third place achieved by musician Paweł Kukiz in the presidential election, was also very significant for our research questions. It was fascinating because Kukiz’15 Electoral Committee, apart from the popular slogan about the need to establish single-member electoral districts (JOW) and anti-elitist approach, did not offer the voters any vision of socio-political order in terms of ideology or programme. Still, it managed to persuade citizens to vote for Kukiz’15 in the parliamentary election.
These premises led to a research problem concerning the analysis of anxiety determinants that contributed to the positive reaction of voters, especially young ones, to the populist elements of the electoral campaign. Obviously, the fact that so-called soft populism is an inherent characteristic of all electoral campaigns was taken into account. Furthermore, we took into consideration the widespread occurrence of populist slogans in virtually all political programmes. Still, some questions remained unanswered, and the aim of the present study was to answer them. The primary question to answer is about the degree to which individual anxiety dispositions influence the development of populist attitudes among young people. Another important question is whether these are strong populist attitudes or just populist tendencies. The research results presented below are exploratory in character: this is only an introduction to further search for the answers to the above-mentioned questions.

The vast majority of the papers on populism describe this political phenomenon as one which is very difficult to explain and to analyze due to its discursive versatility and behavioural chameleonism. Furthermore, I would argue that the term populism covers more political and social realities than one single term would normally concentrate from a semantic point of view. I focus more over the psychological roots of populism which can be observed in the political symbolic field. In that manner, I consider that political symbolic, as part of the behavioural theory, can be a better tool for unveiling the populist discourse than the usual techniques of political analysis.

POPULISM OF RUCH PALIKOTA

This article deals with the Ruch Palikota political party, which has gained enough support in 2011 elections in Poland to be represented in Polish chamber of deputies – Sejm. One of the main opinions in media and within politicians is that Ruch Palikota (RP) is a populist party. This article attempts to examine the argument that the RP is not a populist party. A basic conception of populism is a description made by Roman Tokarczyk and Maria Marczewska-Rytko.

Artykuł poświęcony jest problematyce przemian zachodzących w ramach europejskich systemów partyjnych. Autor zwraca uwagę, że możemy obecnie obserwować proces rozpadu dotychczasowych podziałów socjopolitycznych i kształtowania się nowych podziałów. Proces ten jest efektem makropoziomowych procesów, które można określić jako rewolucja postindustrialna i rewolucja postnarodowa. Głównym celem artykułu jest próba weryfikacji hipotezy zakładającej, że efektem kształtowania się tzw. społeczeństwa informacyjnego będzie pojawienie się nowych podziałów społecznych politycznie doniosłych. Ponad pięćdziesiąt lat temu dwaj autorzy: Seymour Lipset i Staein Rokkan opublikowali książkę Party systems and voter alignments: cross-national perspectives. W pracy tej autorzy skojarzyli podziały społeczne z liniami podziałów politycznych kształtujących się w ramach europejskich systemów partyjnych. Lipset i Rokka dowodzili także, że istniejące podziały partyjne są efektem dwóch makropoziomowych procesów: rewolucji przemysłowej i rewolucji narodowej. Jednakże obecnie europejskie systemy partyjne przechodzą daleko idące przemiany. Można zaobserwować spadek poparcia dla „tradycyjnych” partii politycznych, a także rosnące poparcie dla tzw. ruchów antyestablishmentowych. Autor przyjął, że jest to efekt kształtowania się nowych podziałów socjopolitycznych będących efektem daleko idącej transformacji społecznej związanej z kształtowaniem się społeczeństwa informacyjnego. Dla potwierdzenia swojej hipotezy autor analizuje przemiany, które zaszły we francuskim systemie partyjnym. Według autora zmiany, które zaszły na francuskiej scenie politycznej, są dobrym stadium przypadku, które pozwala zrozumieć współczesne procesy społeczno- -polityczne.

The article analyses modern populism as a challenge to liberal democracy in terms of the activities of right-wing and left-wing political parties. An important factor in the growth of populism is the lack of effectiveness of constitutionalism and other formal limited institutions, procedures to ensure the principles of people’s sovereignty, democracy, justice, guarantee the interests of the majority in the modern world. It is noted that populism emerged in the late 19th century as a social movement, ideology, and political activity, and since then has firmly taken its place in the political consciousness of the masses, gaining new features and intensifying at times when countries are experiencing turning points in their history. The main factors in the growth of populism include the insufficient effectiveness of the institutions of indirect democracy in modern consolidated democracies. Another reason for the rise of populism is related to the tendency of ideological deradicalization, which manifested itself in the activities of different parties. Today, populism does not have a developed fundamental theoretical background and conceptual texts like nationalism and conservatism. However, it has a holistic structure as a political phenomenon and a set of ideological positions. The goal of modern populism is the introduction of “illiberal democracy” – a government that ensures smooth transformation of people’s preferences into public policy (unlike liberal democracies, which are almost always hindered by certain obstacles to responding effectively to pressing problems). From this point of view, populism is not a threat to democracy as such, but the leading liberal version of democracy. The possibilities of constitutionalism are treated with scepticism in the populist ideology, as formal, limited institutions and procedures prevent the majority from executing their will. Liberal democracy is not strong enough and constantly needs strengthening elements in response to new challenges and threats. But liberal democracy, more than any other political form, contains the potential for development, a synergistic resource, and the power of self-correction. A strong parliament and a developed civil society remain effective counterweight to populism.

This article critically examines the main features of respective socio-economic legal frameworks to determine whether they constitute the specificity of Polish and Hungarian populism. The principle of equality serves as a theoretical framework for the assessment of both types of social design. Based on this legal criterion, differences in the social visions of both countries emerge, unveiling the perspective of an exclusive and inclusive social design. However, the conclusion appears that it is not the social-economic model itself that determines the specificity of populism in both countries but its juxtaposition with cultural arguments. Polish and Hungarian populisms are thus defined primarily by social frameworks and secondary by the rhetoric’s cultural component. The combination of social issues with those of cultural kind forms the substantive background of populism in its Polish and Hungarian editions.

The upcoming transformations of today’s societies into sustainable societies pose numerous problems. To avoid the destruction of the foundations of life in the Anthropocene, a profound social and cultural transformation encompassing all areas of life is required. To know how this can be accomplished requires extensive research and knowledge, the reliability of which plays an important role. The more open and diverse the global world becomes, the more difficult it is to determine which facts are important and what consequences can be drawn from them for human action. Instead of a reflexive approach to the results of scientific research, today one often encounters a populist approach to science. Its results are used to support preconceived opinions. One is not interested in new findings but aims at the disparagement of people of other opinions and their hateful insult. A destructive division of society is the result of the debates that are so important for the future of humanity.

Populizm jest zjawiskiem skomplikowanym, ponieważ koncepcja ta nie tylko różni się zarówno w podejściu, jak i przejawach, ale także ukształtowała się w krajach i regionach poza Europą. Podczas gdy intelektualiści nieustannie krytykują i postrzegają to zjawisko jako zagrożenie, któremu należy zapobiegać, miliony ludzi w całej Europie jednocześnie okazują poparcie dla ruchów, partii i osób o ideologii populistycznej. Ten sprzeczny obraz pokazuje, że pojawienie się populizmu jest w istocie odzwierciedleniem szeregu niestabilnych i niepokojących problemów społeczno-politycznych, a także skrajnych emocji i bezsilności ludzi w takich sytuacjach. Celem artykułu jest zatem przyjrzenie się czynnikom napędzającym Brexit, a tym samym zbadanie populizmu na poziomie analizy na poziomie indywidualnym, grupowym, państwowym i systemowym. Wyjaśniając poglądy wietnamskich intelektualistów na temat populizmu, artykuł następnie omawia możliwość wzrostu populizmu w obecnej sytuacji społeczno-politycznej w Wietnamie.

About the need for increased intercultural education in the face of the right-wing populism in Poland

The phenomenon of right-wing populism, which has been spreading in Poland for several years, is deeply permeated with exclusive and anti-pluralist demagogy, which has consequences for public education in our country. In this context, an urgent socio-educational challenge is to counteract students’ fear of what is different and unknown, as well as to develop respect and empathy towards other people, i.e. their different worldview, culture and religion. The aim of this article is not to construct some ad hoc and one-off school and pedagogical initiatives in the face of populist lies and manipulation, but to create the conceptual foundations of an educational, interdisciplinary and, above all, anti-populist preventive system that would be thoroughly filled with the premises of intercultural education and educate young citizens who perceive pluralism as cultural and social value.

The paper discusses populist appeals to emotions in political communication, considering their role in the proliferation of political polarisation and radicalisation. Revisiting the Emotional Rescue Model of anger, enthusiasm, and fear, we considered pride and compassion low-arousal alternatives to populist storytelling. In the experiments, we tested how participants (n=364) respond to appeals to pride and compassion in their brain activity, emotional expressions, prosocial behaviour, attitude change, and memorisation. In the paper, we primarily discussed the results of the fMRI (neuroimaging) study and compared them with the previous studies on authentic pride, compassion, empathy, and reappraisal. Considering similarities in the activation of the superior and middle temporal gyri, temporal pole, inferior frontal gyrus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, we argue that compassionate political narratives should be the most effective low-arousal alternative to populist storytelling. Moreover, stimulation of the reappraisal-related network in that group suggests that participants reframed emotional negativity into prosocial acts of caring and helping, also re-evaluating their attitudes.

The problem of distribution and consumption of intoxicating substances is considered a socially harmful phenomenon and Southeast Asia is a region particularly affected by drugs. In the face of this challenge, the heads of many states undertake radical actions, going beyond the legal framework, referred to as state vigilantism. Based on the example of three selected political leaders (Thaksin Shinawatra, Rodrigo Duterte and Joko Widodo), the author points out how radical strategies for fighting the drug problem contribute to increasing popularity, even though the problem has not been resolved since the early 1970s. Cross-comparison analysis of the three mentioned cases aims at identifying sources of effectiveness and attractiveness of populist methods that have not changed significantly for fifty years. Among them the author argues that vigilantism grows out of populism and takes the form of a spectacle containing such elements as dehumanising discourse, extrajudicial killings and the theme of the nation’s morality at risk.

This paper aims to explore the correlation between rhetoric, political views, and actions and how the construction of utterances conveys ideological meaning. Specifically, I examine the nature of rhetoric, its structure, and its impact on the overall tone of an utterance. The analysis reveals that rhetorical devices can manipulate and create messages promoting segregation and discrimination. To illustrate this, I focus on D. Trump’s statements, particularly his use of Twitter to communicate. I analyze his selection of vocabulary and figures of speech, demonstrating his use of hate speech and misogynistic and racist thoughts. Drawing on the work of prominent linguists such as T. Van Dijk, R. Harris, and M. Reisigl, I examine the rhetorical devices used by Trump and their influence on the overall message conveyed. I support the analysis with press publications, articles, and books that provide further insight into Trump’s language use. The conclusions summarize my findings and emphasize the link between rhetoric and political actions and views.

Megalothymic subjectivity as a result of populist narrative strategies

The article addresses the phenomenon of megalothymic subjectivity as an indirect effect of the systemic weakness of modern liberal democracy. By using Donald Trump’s narrative strategies as an example, the author shows how populism creates in voters’ minds an imagined reality of conspiracy, danger, and loss of human decency. The process of populist communication takes the form of a story with an upcoming decisive moment, the victory of good or evil. A voter being shaped in such manner sees himself both as a part of a significant and strong community and as a victim of hostile actions of politicians on the national and international scene. The voter in such a position begins to manifest attitudes indicating a desire to regain his supposedly lost subjectivity, the extreme manifestation of which was the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

This article aims to analyze the phenomenon of populist neo-nationalism in Austria and answer the following research questions: 1. How can populism and its type of populist neo-nationalism be characterized?; 2. What are the determinants of populist neonationalism in Austria? 3. What are the ways populist neo-nationalism has been utilized in Austria? The Chantal Mouffe thesis was verified, according to which the development of populism is a response to the shortcomings of liberal and deliberative democracies. The research process used a methodology typical of the social sciences, especially the political sciences. Since the 1980s, we have addressed the growing importance of radical right-wing populism in European politics. Some researchers refer to this phenomenon as new populism or populist neo-nationalism. The party’s growing importance since 1986 was related, among other things, to the principles of Euroscepticism it proclaimed and its demands to limit or even ban immigration. The FPÖ’s achieved the most tremendous success under the government of Jörg Haider. Its entry into the ruling coalition has confused international relations.