Populism as political communication style: An empirical study of political parties' discourse in Belgium

Abstract

The scientific debate about populism has been revitalised by the recent rise of extreme‐right parties in Western Europe. Within the broad discussion about populism and its relationship with extreme‐right, this article is confined to three topics: a conceptual, an epistemological and an empirical issue. First, taking a clear position in the ongoing definition struggle, populism is defined primarily as a specific political communication style. Populism is conceived of as a political style essentially displaying proximity of the people, while at the same time taking an anti‐establishment stance and stressing the (ideal) homogeneity of the people by excluding specific population segments. Second, it is pointed out that defining populism as a style enables one to turn it into a useful concept that has too often remained vague and blurred. Third, drawing on an operational definition of populism, a comparative discourse analysis of the political party broadcasts of the Belgian parties is carried out. The quantitative analysis leads to a clear conclusion. In terms of the degree and the kinds of populism embraced by the six political parties under scrutiny, the extreme‐right party Vlaams Blok behaves very differently from the other Belgian parties. Its messages are a copybook example of populism.