Petőcz Kálmán (szerk.): National Populism and Slovak - Hungarian Relations in Slovakia 2006-2009 (Somorja, 2009)
Peter Učen: Approaching National Populism
Approaching National Populism sitions along with populist justifications for authoritarian encroachments, all wrapped in nationalist themes." As for the transformation populism, it came to influence the second decade following the departures from Communism. It brought in the two groups of political actors embracing populism as the means to break in and/or dominate the political competition in their societies:- New ('centrist') populism: SOP, SMER in Slovakia, National Movement Simeon II (NDSV) in Bulgaria, New Era (JL) in Latvia, Res Publica (RP) and Labour party (DP) in Lithuania.- ‘Mainstream populism': Alliance of Young Democrats-Hungarian Civic Union (Fidesz-MPP) in Hungary, Law and Justice (PiS) in Poland, and fight against the establishment put up by the Romanian President Traian Basescu. Regarding ‘centrist populists’, as a rule, the concerned parties are newcomers mobilising discontent with under-performing and morally failing post-communist establishment. Their true ideological stance is ‘anti-establishment’ which overshadows other ideological components present.12 Particularly in their initial periods, they shy away from ideological pledges or even label ideology as harmful to true democratic politics. Their appeal contains numerous references to common sense and rational solutions on which political decision-making should be based: “In their appeal they blame the entire establishment, in all its manifestations since regime change, for misrepresentation, immoral conduct, and poor governance. They offer “to square the transition circle” by increasing living standards, safeguarding Western orientation, stopping radicals, and fighting corruption - all tasks in which the previous establishment failed. The central themes of their message are curbing corruption, improving responsiveness, and promoting economic development... In a true populist vein, their tough antiestablishment appeal is directed against all previous configurations of the ruling elite (although in some cases, proponents of the new anti-establishment politics may have been part of this elite)” (Učeň 2007a, 54).13 An imperfect heading ‘mainstream populism’ refers to the politics of radicalisation which unveils itself within the parties commonly considered to be a part of a mainstream. Unlike previous, they have often been in place since the aftermath of the regime changes as separate parties or their parts. This brand of populism appeared on the Right - either conservative (Fidesz, PiS) or self-styled (Basescu). They can be considered a reaction to the same disillusionment with traditional parties as was the case with ‘centrist populism’ using it for their advantage, yet in a different way. Their defining characteristics is the tendency to dispense with (or even dispose 25
