AUTHOR:
Irena Gałka
ABSTRACT:
The article is dedicated to analyzing the history of formation, features of early or primary conceptualization and manifestations of the concept of “populism” in political practice and Political Science outside Europe. To do this, the author chronicled how the concept of populism arose, how it acquired different theoretical and normative connotations, and how it relates to other categories indifferent non-European countries, regions and parts of the world. It is argued that non-European populism should be talked about initially and historically on the example of such countries as the United States and the Russian Empire, and later primarily on the example of Latin America and (to a lesser extent) Africa. It was found that the concept of “populism” both theoretically and practically, as well as in a negative and in a positive senses and contexts is primarily based on the appeal to antagonism along the lines of “people” (as a positive category) and “political elite/dominant ideology” (as a negative category).These antagonistic opposites are analyzed in terms of their evolution, dynamics and changes, which actually testify to and demonstrate the history of populism in the non-European world. As a result, it has been shown that populism can be “elitist” (when it is mostly a mean of gaining and retaining power) and “popular” (when it is a mean of changing power and improving the status and rights of society) ones .It has been also shown that populism under autocracy can promote pluralism, democratization and democracy, but in the case of democracy it can generate risks of “erosion” of democracy and autocratization.
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