Populist Narratives and the Making of National Strategy

"While case-by-case analysis of the conditions facing each nation and the personal style of individual populist leaders is important, there is value in drawing on recent theoretical advances in the study of populism itself. This academic work has conceptualised populism as a “thin-centered ideology” or political style, distinct from the ideologies or domestic political debates to which it is inevitably attached.[4] According to this view, populists can take up very different political ideas—of the left and right or even crossing over the traditional ideological spectrum—yet still share important common traits. The traits uniting populists can be used to tell us something about their potential behaviour as strategists."