Introduction

Democracies across the world seem suffer reputationally and are criticized for being unable to solve the everyday problems. This provides a springboard for populist leaders to get elected across Europe, as has been observed recently in Italy and Hungary. Following the 2024 Presidential Election, the beacon of liberal democracy, the United States, may also elect a president with populist policies and strong nationalistic rhetoric. Despite the external problems that threaten democracies such as rivalry with authoritarian states and ongoing conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war, the internal problems of many democracies outweigh external threats. As well as populism, democracies globally are also threatened by the spread of misinformation that fuels extremism.

Analysis

How can we best define populism? A single definition can be misleading and provides too narrow a view. Therefore, it is best to look at cases of countries with populist leaders to identify common characteristics and patterns that emerge.

Populism

Andreas Papandreou was the president of Greece from 1981 to 1989 and again between 1993 and 1996. Papandreou was immensely popular with the publicand was elected as the second president of the Hellenic republic after the junta regime. While Greece was on a steady path to gaining favor with allies, Papandreou preached leftist rhetoric during the height of the Cold War and whenGreece was of particular strategic importance due to its position in the Mediterranean. The removal of US bases from Greece, the establishment of a socialist government, and the complete disapproval of EU institutions made Papandreou popular with the public (Kassimeris, 2019) Nationalist rhetoric also featured heavily in his agenda. Papandreou’s government delivered empty promises to the people of Greece. While he preached for the removal of NATO and US bases, at the end of his presidency Greece ultimately strengthened its alliance with the US. The same can be said with the EU institutions that the Pasok government so fondly dismissed. Under his government, Greece made its ties with the EU stronger. This led to a long-term membership and collaboration with the union. Therefore, Papandreou manipulated Greek politics to his own benefit, eroding the trust and legitimacy in Greek democratic norms.

Populism is not tied to a particular ideology. In 2016, President Trump was elected. President Trump’s employed nationalistic rhetoric when campaigning and throughout his presidency, the main target being illegal immigrants crossing the Mexico-US border. The rhetoric demonized immigrants as enemies in an attempt to unite Americans around a common cause. Trump deemed immigrants coming into the US as “rapists” and “criminals”, reflecting the populist tactic of misinforming voters. (Wojczewski, 2020). Trump’s populist rhetoric concerning immigration resulted in his border policy: He argued that the construction of a border wall was necessary to cut immigration and advocated that Mexico was going to pay for it. However, as seen in Papandreou’s case, populists tend to make promises to their people that are not fulfilled. Despite Trump’s pledge, less than 500 miles were constructed by the end of his term, much of it replacing existing structures (Keck & Clua-Losada, 2021). Funding did not come from Mexico. When the Trump administration exceeded budget expectations, President Trump declared a national state of emergency, using funds from the Department of Defense to finance the wall’s construction (Keck & Clua-Losada, 2021).  

These cases can help define the common characteristics of populist leaders. Nationalistic rhetoric is used to unite the populace against a common enemy. Additionally, populist leaders tend to make extraordinary promises that, despite their appeal, fail to be properly implemented. Such leaders poses a great threat to our democratic system because they manipulate the electorate’s views to win elections, but also betray the very same people who elected them by failing to enact their policies. With more populist leaders elected, ambitious candidates seeking election may replicate this model. This may cause democratic backsliding as candidates prioritize their own political careers over enacting effective policies and providing public goods.

Misinformation

Populist leaders also frequently use misinformation as part of their demagogic tactics which weakens democracies. A prominent example featured in the Brexit referendum campaign in the United Kingdom.

The Vote Leave campaign falsely claimed that while the UK was still a member of the EU it sent around £350 million to the EU per week which could instead be allocated to public services like the National Health Service (NHS). This slogan featured on a Vote Leave bus that toured the UK. However, this campaign slogan was based on misinformation. In fact, the claim omitted the rebate that Britain received from its EU membership and EU spending on the UK, with the actual figure substantially lower. In addition, it is uncertain whether these payments would actually go towards the NHS essentially rendering it a promise, rather than a planned policy goal. (Gaber & Fisher, 2022). This misleading campaign statistic may set a damaging precedent for misinformation as a tool for future campaigns. Eventually, this “war on truth” won the popular vote by a slight margin, with United Kingdom voting to leave the European Union on June 23th 2016 with 51.9% of the votes (EU Referendum Results - BBC News, n.d.) However, this turned out to be a disastrous decision of Britain. Almost a decade later, public finances have been dented, with the UK economy 2.5% smaller in comparison than it would have been had the UK stayed in the EU. (Katharine Viner, 2018)

Misinformation also featured heavily in Bolsonaro’s handling of the Covid -19 pandemic in Brazil. From the very start of the pandemic, Bolsonaro downplayed Covid-19, shifting public opinion away from the importance of tackling the pandemic and placing the onus on local governments to introduce measures (Razafindrakoto et al., 2024). When the vaccine was first developed by credible western health institutions, he himself set the example for Brazilians by choosing not to get vaccinated (MAURICIO SAVARES, 2020). Brazil ended up with one of the highest Covid deaths per 100,000 people (Razafindrakoto et al., 2024). President Bolsonaro uploaded YouTube videos expressing his and his cabinet’s attitudes towards Covid-19: YouTube removed the videos as the Brazilian government was spreading lies and misinformation regarding the pandemic, something that furthers proves Bolsonaro’s illogical commitment to misinformation (BBC, 2021)

Such politically motivated actions only weaken our democracies. In the case of the Vote Leave’s false campaign statistic, there was an active attempt to persuade voters with false evidence, essentially manipulating the popular vote for their own interests. Furthermore, in Brazil’s case, misinformation comtributed to the poor handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, potentially adding to the death toll. Without adequate pandemic preparations and by downplaying its importance, it cost lives and livelihoods (BBC, 2021). Both of these cases indicate how misinformation damages democratic systems.

Conclusion

Considering case studies of presidents from both sides of the political spectrum, populist leaders can be defined by their strong nationalistic initiatives to rally public support around him, while at the same time presenting himself as attractive to the public by making empty promises to the electorate. Misinformation is also commonly weaponized against democratic values, as evidenced by the misleading claims by Vote Leave in the UK Brexit referendum and the misinformation prevalent in President Bolsonaro’s handling of the Covid-19 Pandemic. All of this has highly damaging ramifications to democratic norms and institutions.

Spyros Tsaparas is an undergraduate student majoring in International Relations and European Affairs at the American College of Greece - Deree,

Sources

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EU Referendum Results—BBC News. (n.d.). Retrieved 10 August 2024, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/eu_referendum/results

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Katharine Viner. (2018). Brexit costing Britain £500m a week and rising, says report | Brexit | The Guardian. The Guardian.

Keck, M., & Clua-Losada, M. (2021). Trump’s authoritarian neoliberal governance and the US-Mexican border. Policy Studies, 42(5–6), 611–627. https://doi.org/10.1080/01442872.2021.1959541

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Razafindrakoto, M., Roubaud, F., Castilho, M. R., Pero, V., & Saboia, J. (2024). Investigating the ‘Bolsonaro effect’ on the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic: An empirical analysis of observational data in Brazil. PLOS ONE, 19(4), e0288894. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0288894

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