How can we explain the fact that populists are at least partly very successful in winning over majorities or at least relevant minorities? We may have been fundamentally mistaken about how strongly democratic institutions are actually anchored among people. The propaganda of populists, their promises to solve societal and social problems and their ultimately anti-democratic policies would then possibly only be successful because they can mobilise a potential of people who despise democracy and their slogans would fall on the fertile ground of an already existing fundamental scepticism towards the existing democracies.
“We have confused the toleration of democracy with its acceptance”
In his contribution, our scientific director Michael Baurmann writes about toleration and acceptance of democracy.