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ABSTRACT
This paper analyses populism as a layered system with three levels: the political/institutional, the social/interactional, and the psychological/intrapsychic. Each level is theorized using a specific analytic concept, At the political/institutional level the analytic concept is ideology, and populism is theorized as a ‘thin ideology’ that divides society into the pure people and the corrupt elite. At the social/interactional level the analytic concept is social identity and populism is theorized as a form of identity politics in which devalued social groups develop a compensatory positive identity based on populist ideology. At the psychological/intrapsychic level the analytic concept is psychic structure, in which individuals use a paranoid/schizoid psychic structure that allows them to ward off the negative effects associated with their devalued social identity. Each analytic concept has the same deep structure: a binary polar opposition in which one pole is positive and good and the other pole is negative and bad.
Acknowledgement
I am greatful to the anonymous review whose careful reading and suggestions improved the style and clarity of the paper.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Carl Auerbach
Carl Auerbach is an Emeritus Professor at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University. His research area is in the psychology of trauma, with a particular focus on collective social trauma. He has researched trauma and resilience in post-genocide Rwanda using a grounded theory qualitative research methodology. In 2011 he was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to teach and do research at the National University of Rwanda. His thoughts on the democracy and populism were prompted by his experiences in post-genocide Rwanda.