Delegitimizing democracy: the limits of populism to explain the destructuring of the democratic imaginary.
This article examines ways that politicians undermine democratic institutions and processes in the contemporary wave of democratic backsliding. Many scholars point to populism as the explanation, but we argue that populism is inadequate and that the study of democratic backsliding would benefit from...
| Publicado en: | Communication Theory (1050-3293) Vol. 36; no. 3; pp. 154 - 165 |
|---|---|
| Autores principales: | , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
Oxford University Press / USA
Aug2026
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=196273578&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 196273578 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 10503293 CIY jtl: Communication Theory (1050-3293) issn: 10503293 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Aug2026 vid: 36 iid: 3 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 196273578 10.1093/ct/qtaf034 ppf: 154 ppct: 11 formats: tig: atl: Delegitimizing democracy: the limits of populism to explain the destructuring of the democratic imaginary. aug: au: Stromer-Galley, Jennifer McKernan, Brian affil: Syracuse University, Syracuse, USA Pace University, New York, USA su: United States Trump, Donald, 1946- Sanders, Bernie, 1941- Biden, Joe, 1942- Populism Social media Political communication Public institutions Right & left (Political science) Democratic backsliding United States presidential election, 2020 Rhetoric & politics sug: subj: Populism Social media Political communication Public institutions Right & left (Political science) United States Democratic backsliding United States presidential election, 2020 Rhetoric & politics Trump, Donald, 1946- Sanders, Bernie, 1941- Biden, Joe, 1942- keyword: copyrightHolder:International Communication Association copyrightYear:2026 Democratic Backsliding Disinformation inLanguage:en Political Communication publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ct/qtaf034 Social Media copyrightHolder:International Communication Association copyrightYear:2026 Democratic Backsliding Disinformation inLanguage:en Political Communication publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ct/qtaf034 Social Media ab: This article examines ways that politicians undermine democratic institutions and processes in the contemporary wave of democratic backsliding. Many scholars point to populism as the explanation, but we argue that populism is inadequate and that the study of democratic backsliding would benefit from analysis of campaign messaging. We offer rhetorical delegitimization to better identify arguments from elites that have the communicative force to fundamentally destabilize democratic institutions by changing the public imaginary about the philosophical ideal. We analyze social media messages by Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders during the 2020 U.S. presidential election campaign and their populist appeals. We demonstrate the limits of populism and justify the need for a concept to better capture systematic destructing arguments about democratic processes, institutions, and opponents. We draw connections between Trump's campaign messaging in 2020 and his acts once elected in 2024 to show that democratic backsliding can be predicted from campaign messaging. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|