Uncovering populism in the so-called “democratic country”

Delso Khossa"

Some so-called “analysts or commentators” on television channels, without any scientific basis or specialized training in the complexity and multidimensionality of social factsto analyze, interpret and predict the political phenomena that have plagued the country since the last 15 years of governance, which peaked after the elections held on October 9, 2024, have used the term "populism" in an abusive and fallacious way to disfigure political actors. The audiovisual screens are flooded with commissioned costumes, without proper check-in of the order and without understanding who the recipient is or the effects of this order. The first factor, the apparently unconscious culprit, is the tiny financial resources to nourish the digestive system that makes us strip away the noble values of human and divine dignity, but we are also inserted in the context of preaching empty speeches. The second factor is that the media industry is more concerned with audiences, through the collection of advertising links, than with educational and quality content. As a third factor, there is the use of the divine word to evoke/justify illicit practices in the name of the people of God. We live in a society in which the father evokes noble values of democracy, but rarely practices them. For example, political and religious speeches are quite exciting and hopeful, but they are empty in responding to the problems of the people. Furthermore, we are in a hurry, with no time to organize the argumentative order, which demonstrates an authentic inability to elucidate without philosophical reinforcement of this philosophical – elucidative – characteristic. These are the reasons that make me restless to unravel the term. The concept has an academic nature in the areas of social and human sciences, specifically in political science. What is populism? How does it emerge? What aspects does it awaken in society, both in consolidated democracies and in authoritarian regimes? These are the guiding questions of this reflection on brainwashing. I am also aware of the limitations of the means by which this reflection will be shared, but I believe that those who have access will share it/comment on it with other readers, as a way of expanding knowledge. The term populism emerges in the context of a democratic crisis, that is, it is a need to express a dysfunction in the practice of democracy. For political scientist Fukuyama (2015), in his article entitled Why is Democracy Performing So Poorly, the term results from the insufficiency of political participation and the low level of identification with the public policies of the government of the day. Given this, the premise of improving and reestablishing the best functioning of democratic institutions is the most viable way to solve the infection of inequalities and social injustices. In other horizons, the term finds fertile ground, where the exclusion of strong identities from capitalism tends to prevail in the governance of a country. And, for Appadurai (2017), it is the end of liberal democracy and the beginning of a post-liberal, post-deliberative and post-exclusion phase. For Moffitt & Tormey (2014:383), in the article entitled Rethinking Populism: Politics, Mediatisation and Political Style, four dimensions of this concept are mapped: ideology, logic of political action, discourse and political strategy. The Mozambican phenomenon does not yet present a consolidated ideology, but a discourse/messages that call for change in established institutions, which is the positive force for engagement and participation in political life. For example, the most recent populist movements include the government of Dilma Rousseff in Brazil, the first term of Donald Trump in the USA and Viktor Orbán in Hungary. Canovan (1981), in his work entitled Populism, was the first to categorize the concept, when analyzing political phenomena in the currents of conservatism, socialism and liberalism, which result from diverse historical manifestations and processes of political change in different contexts. In a condensed form, populism is the people, the sovereignty of the people. Ionescu's work (1969), The Manifestations of Populism in the Twentieth Century, analyzes the phenomena of populism in Western Europe, in the phase of colonial expansion and in the First World War, in response to the depression of nationalism, fueled by ethnos and demos (nation and people). Berlin (1968) understood the term from an observable and contextual historical perspective. Undoubtedly, the term, in its genesis, had negative connotations, mainly in the European context, due to its foundations of minority and ethnic nationalism, but, with the consolidation of the concept of nation and practices of social injustice, it opened new paths for salvation through human rights and social inclusion. The charismatic leader, by defending the people and enjoying the sympathy of the majority, becomes a populist. The term does not have a single ideological identity, due to historical and situational mutations, distinguishing between “pure people” and “corrupt elite”. What is the weakness of populism? When the mobilization has an ethnic or racist basis, and opposes democratic principles. The characteristics of populism: in addition to being a movement that calls for social justice and frequent historical facts in governance, populism demands changes and transformations within modern democracy; it fights in a parallel process of including political externalities in the political system; it is an arm wrestling match against corrupt elites; it is a constitutionally and electorally strong movement that counters fallacious opinions expressed by the media; it questions the current government about its legitimacy and political justice. In short, there are several academic conceptions, both from the left and the right, due to its historical genesis, but they all share the idea that populism is a movement composed of “pure people” who call for the governance of the “corrupt elite”, whose cry is social injustice and the violation of human rights.

2025/12/3