IDEOLOGICAL POPULISM AND ATTITUDE-POPULISM ON <br />ROMANIAN POLITICAL SCENE

Abstract

Populism is a recurrent and chameleonic phenomenon that adapts to all political regimes. Because of these issues, at a conceptual level, it is difficult to define its exact and accurate meaning. Although the literature has dealt with this concept over time syncopated and often wrong, populism is a complex field, which constantly develops new and different forms that embody the spirit of the time.The definition of populism alters between ideology, current or rhetorical tool. Thus, in the first part of the present article we’ve tried to discover the diverse and complex facets of populism, at a conceptual level, presenting the main perspectives of the analysts and the main forms of the phenomenon. Subsequently we’ve individualized populism in Central and Eastern Europe and Romania, identifing two forms of populism existing on the romanian post-comunist political scene, such as: ideology-populism, located at the extreme right of the political scene and represented successfully by Romania Mare Party and its leader Corneliu Vadim Tudor and attitude-populism used (from 2000) by the Liberal Democratic Party’s leader Traian Basescu.