Right-wing and left-wing populism

Populists narrow the concept of "the people" to themselves, adopting the motto "We are the people," and discriminate against others. Right-wing populists tend to denigrate and more or less violently persecute groups they perceive as weaker, such as migrants, women, sexual minorities, and people with disabilities. Left-wing populists, on the other hand, identify with groups they consider oppressed and argue about which minorities are particularly legitimate in the fight against oppression. In doing so, they do not shy away from denigrating others in a racist, sexist, and ageist manner, for example, by labeling them as old white men.

Right-wing and left-wing populists differ in their stance on equality: while inequality is justified or even elevated to a guiding principle on the political right, leftists are guided by the principle of equality. However, both right-wing and left-wing populists think in a narrowly power-oriented way. Accordingly, the rule of law and democracy mean little to both groups, or they even oppose it. There is a fine line between mutual antagonism and alliances between them.

Therefore, the fate of democracy is not determined by the precedence of right or left, but by whether it is jointly protected and defended.