Populism is no joke!

Populism is no joke! is an youth exchange held in Orahovica in July 2022 – about fighting and understanding populist style of political involvment .Youth satisfaction with democracy is in decline in most Western countries and populism has positioned itself as the main challenger to the idea of liberal democracy. But what is populism and how is it different to liberal democratic principles? Populism is not a political ideology, it is a style of government which can be both left-wing and right-wing. Populism is characterized by diving people into two opposing groups (often “elites” vs “people”), where populists justify their dubious power grabs as a necessary step to protect the interests of the “people”.

Goals:

1. understand the basis of liberal democracy
2. understand the diversity of modern forms of liberal democracy
3. understand why is youth satisfaction with democracy on decline in the developed world
4. understand populism and illiberal democracy as challengers to liberal democracy
6. understand long term impact of populism on democratic institutions and economic growth
8. develop ideas on how to make young people more supportive of
the ideas of liberal democracy