Why France is the “cradle of populism” | EUROtoday

HASLet’s face it: this idea of “populism” finally ends up changing into annoying. Very obscure, it’s linked as effectively to La France insoumise by Jean-Luc Mélenchon as to the National Rally of Marine Le Pen, and even to Emmanuel Macron himself, who had promised, through the presidential marketing campaign, to exchange the normal political class with a “new world”. Added to the imprecision of the time period is its stigmatizing nature: to be accused of “populism” is to be dismissed, with out additional dialogue, to the rank of irresponsible demagogues. Should we not merely, for the sake of readability and relevance of the controversy, throw this portmanteau phrase out the window?