title: Populism: consequences for global sustainable development
Creators: name: Marschall, Paul
name: Klingebiel, Stephan
Publisher: name: German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE)
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/01t3zke88
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: Entwicklungspolitik
subject: Nachhaltigkeit
subject: Demokratie
subject: Populismus
subject: Development Policy
subject: Sustainability
subject: Democracy
subject: Populism

description: Populism is a style of politics that attacks the existing normative consensus within
 society, making systematic use of marginalisation and bogeyman tactics. Typical
 marginaliastion strategies target minorities within the population and adopt an
 anti-scientific world view. Restrictions on civil society are one of the consequences of
 government action dominated by populism. <br> When it comes to mobilising voters,
 populists draw upon selected topics which differ according to political camp (left-wing
 versus right-wing populism) and national context. Nonetheless, it is possible to identify
 certain patterns of populist expression, such as the practice of contrasting the “people”
 and their supposed will with an allegedly out-of-touch political “elite”. The values of
 the population are largely set within the national context, while representatives of the
 elite are often portrayed as primarily interested in interactions outside of the nation
 state and thus perceived and characterised as proponents of globalisation. <br> Populist
 trends can be seen in Western nations, former Eastern Bloc states and countries in the
 global South. <br> Populist movements pose considerable threats to multilateral efforts
 aimed at tackling transnational political challenges. These patterns include: 
 

 
 Abandonment of efforts to promote integration. Accordingly, the European Union (EU)
 is considered an “elite project” and emblematic of many of the negative aspects of
 globalisation.
 

 Abandonment of multilateral institutions and international trade agreements. This
 includes withdrawal from international accords (Paris climate agreement, etc.) and
 international organisations.

 Reinterpretation/rejection of development policy. Development policy is not understood
 as an original instrment for promoting global sustainable development, but rather
 reinterpreted as a vehicle for achieving narrow national goals.

 
 The partially transnational nature of populism could present an additional challenge for
 global sustainable development in future. Efforts by populist streams to cooperate at
 cross-border level and thus create a form of “meta-populism” have barely succeeded to
 date, but this could change after the European elections in May 2019. <br> The current
 and the expected future significance of populist actors varies from country to country.
 Even in nations in which populists are not currently in government, the state could
 introduce budget cuts or reallocate funding to specific development policy topics in an
 effort to minimise the electoral gains of the populists. This runs the threat of populist
 approaches becoming effective even in countries where populist parties are not in
 government.
description: Briefing Paper, 8/2019