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...

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Bibliographic Details

Published in:	Communication Theory (1050-3293) Vol. 36; no. 3; pp. 154 - 165
Main Authors:	Stromer-Galley, Jennifer, McKernan, Brian
Format:	Article
Published:	Oxford University Press / USA Aug2026
Subjects:	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
Online Access:	View this record in EBSCOhost