Populist communication

Like the study of populist politics, research on populist communication is vast and growing. This entry first lays out what populist communication is and what it is not, and explains how we can characterize the populist message. Can we speak of an idiosyncratic populist rhetoric/discourse, or style; which communicative elements are central; what are nearest neighbours but are not populist per se? After defining populist communication, I will dive deeper into where populism is communicated, zooming in on its presence in journalistic/mass media and social media. In a final step, the consequences of populist communication are discussed. Mediated populism cannot only legitimize populist politics and put it on the agenda, but populist communication can also arouse, persuade, and mobilize voters. The entry ends with an outlook on avenues for future research.