Political Economy of Populism

Abstract

There has been a considerable interest in the theme of "populism" and "populist leadership" in the recent years due to a variety of factors. While populism in some form or the other has always been part of the political discourse since earlier times, the recent upsurge has been a result of both economic and political factors. As in the rest of the world, populism has not been a new thing in India, ever since the country followed its independent path after 1947. But what makes the recent phase of populism different from the earlier one is the thinning of the line between the political, economic, and cultural. This entry tries to understand the complexities of contemporary populism through a political economy perspective and argues that a multilayered reading of the phenomenon is necessary for us to understand the complex nuances of populism. While populism may be driven by a political and cultural streak, it may very well have an economic underpinning, and the two cannot be separated. This brief entry seeks to delineate a political economy argument that would help understand better the growth and evolution of neo populism as well as practical ramification of the same.