The political movement that opposes traditional parties and claims to fight the dominant classes is described as populism.
Populism is a term that is not part of the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) but, however, is very frequently used in the Spanish language.
It is a political concept that allows reference to movements that reject traditional political parties and that show themselves, either in actual practice or in speeches, combative against the dominant classes.
Populism appeals to the people to build their power , understanding the people as the lower social classes without economic or political privileges. It usually bases its structure on the constant denunciation of the evils that the privileged classes embody. Populist leaders, therefore, present themselves as redeemers of the humble.
A pejorative concept
The term populism has a pejorative meaning, since it refers to political measures that do not seek the well-being or progress of a country, but rather try to achieve the acceptance of voters regardless of the consequences.
For example: “Sanctioning North American companies is a decision typical of populism, which has disastrous consequences from an economic point of view,” “Left-wing populism has scared away investments and plunged the population into poverty,” “Those who Those accused of populism are those who enjoyed immense profits for years at the expense of the poverty of the rest of society .
When the notion of populism is used positively, on the other hand, these movements are qualified as proposals that seek to build power through popular participation and social inclusion.
Populism usually has charismatic leaders.
From success to adjustment in populism
It is known that populist groups do not form a homogeneous group, but rather show certain notable differences in political and economic issues. On the other hand, they have many points in common that oppose them to those who do not participate in their ideology, which is based mainly on the forced promotion of consumption and distribution. In the 70s and 80s, there was no regional populist experience that did not go through four well-differentiated phases : success at the beginning, imbalances , their acceleration and, finally, adjustment .
In the first one, the procedure does not matter, since everything seems to work . Employment and real wages increase, the effect of inflation seems to fade and expansionary fiscal and monetary policies see a revival. These are historical moments in which a country believes it has found the economic model that really works for its people, the revolution that everyone was waiting for and that will forever change their quality of life.
The imbalances
But all this has its consequences. It is after this initial stage that imbalances appear: the inflation rate increases more strongly, debts grow, the well-known external bottlenecks appear (the volume of exports decreases or stagnates but the volume of imports increases) and the fall in international reserves. Faced with this situation, the government's actions usually revolve around controlling prices and exchange rates, which leads to repressed inflation , among other evils.
Subsequently, in the acceleration of imbalances, the fiscal deficit and the monetary issue necessary for its financing grow violently, the lack of foreign currency increases despite controlling the exchange rates (with the consequent devaluation of the currency), the fall in demand for money, worsens the instability of inflation and decreases real wages, to cite some of the terrible consequences of the previous phase.
Finally, the adjustment attempts to put the country back together, as if it were a great puzzle. It is worth mentioning that this process takes a few years and each step is the result of decisions made coldly, knowing the risks they entail. Today's world causes the duration and impact of each of the phases to vary with respect to what the history of a few decades ago teaches us, but the final picture is always the same.