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DemocracyatRisk…
thosewhoclaimtobethedefendersofdemocracyintheiragendas.Thelatterare
usuallypartieswithneo-fascistprovenance.
Itisworthemphasisingthefactthatineverydaylanguagetheconceptof
populismisoftenabused.Itisusedinvariousmeaningstodescribeanymani-
festationsofextremism,whichleadstothelackofdistinctionbetweendifferent
politicalqualities,e.g.theextremerightandextremeleft.Itisalsonotenough
todefinepopulismbyreferringtouanti-elitism”ifwedonotexplainwhatun-
derliesit.5Jan-WernerMüllerarguesthatpopulistswhoseethemselvesasthe
solerepresentativesofthenation’sinterestsarecharacterisedbytherejectionof
pluralism.Andfurtherindicatesthattheinevitableconsequenceofpopulists
gainingstrongpoweristhecreationoftheauthoritarianstate.Inturn,Dani
Rodrik(2018)combinespopulismwithunevendevelopmentandcapitalism
crisesthataggravateinequality.Accordingtothisauthor,economicmeasures
areneededtoreduceinequalityandstrengthenthesenseofsecurity.Thelack
ofreactionwilldeepennationalistsentimentandmayleadtoconflictandvio-
lence.Thisconclusionalsoappliestotoday’sEuropeanUnionwhereeconomic
andsocialinequalities-especiallyinthetimesofcrisis-stimulatenationalist
tendenciesandreinforcepreciselythosepoliticalforcesthatarenotaptlycalled
populisttoday.
Beforewetakeacloserlookattheparty’snationalistprojectsinthe21stcentury
Europeandtheirviewsondemocracy,wewillbrieflycharacterisetheconceptof
nationalismandthecontroversythatarisesaroundit.
Thedictionarydefinitionpointstothefollowingfeaturesofnationalism.uItis
thebeliefthatthenationisthemostimportantformofsocialization,andnational
identityisthemostimportantcomponentoftheidentityoftheindividual,com-
binedwiththeimperativetoputnationalsolidarityoverallotherrelationships
andobligations,andeverythingthatisnationalovereverythingthatisforeignor
cosmopolitan;politicalideology,accordingtowhichthebasictaskofthestateisto
defendnationalinterests,anditsterritorialscopeshouldcorrespondtotheareas
inhabitedbyagivennation(encyklopedia.pwn.pl).
Itisclearfromtheabovedefinitionthatnationalismliesinthefundamen-
talcontradictiontoliberalismbecauseitreferstovaluesthataretheopposite
oftheaxiomsofliberalism.Aboveall,itputsthegoodofthenationabovethe
goodoftheindividual,whichmeansamoralimperativetosacrificethelife,rights
anddignityoftheindividualtoachievethegoalsofthecollective.Thenationis
recognisedasthehighestsovereignofthestate,andthenation-statethemostap-
propriateformoforganisationofthecommunityunitedbyacommunityoforigin,
language,historyandculture.Allpoliticalactionsareevaluatedthroughtheprism
ofthegoodandinterestsofthisnation.Nationalismusuallyproclaimselitism,
oftencombinedwithxenophobiaandethnocentrism,racismandanti-Semitism.
5
Notallcriticsoftheelitearepopulist0Criticismoftherulingelitecanbeamanifestationof
anattitudeofcivicengagement0