Authoritarian populism is a term that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century and was later popularized by the British Marxist and cultural theorist Stuart Hall. Hall introduced the term to analyze the political transformations occurring in Britain with the rise of Margaret Thatcher in the late 1970s. The term gained traction in the 1980s, particularly among academics studying the policies and political strategies of Thatcher and Ronald Reagan.
The ideological framework of populist-authoritarian movements revolves around three key components: the people, the elite, and the general will (volonté générale). These movements claim to represent the will of the people more faithfully than traditional democratic institutions such as legislatures and courts. According to populist ideology, the will of the people is paramount and should supersede institutional checks and balances.
Several contemporary leaders and regimes have been characterized as exhibiting "authoritarian populist" tendencies, including Donald Trump in the United States, Vladimir Putin in Russia, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey, Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, and Viktor Orbán in Hungary. Their regime styles are marked by a disregard for liberal democratic norms, alongside rhetoric that often includes xenophobia and racism, purportedly aimed at protecting their national identities. This brand of authoritarian populism has been gaining momentum across various European nations as well.
The populist approach stands in stark contrast to liberal democracy, which is predicated on the idea that a well-structured government must regulate popular will to ensure pluralism and safeguard minority rights. The increasing prevalence and acceptance of authoritarian populist models contribute to the normalization of nationalism, xenophobia, racism, and anti-Semitic rhetoric. Additionally, these trends can incite violent extremism and terrorism.
Authoritarian populism poses a significant threat to democracy and the liberal values that underpin it, both globally and within specific nations, including Israel. The core danger lies in the attempt to replace liberal democracy with an alternative political model – "ethnocracy" or "ethno-nationalism" – where the state is defined as belonging exclusively to a single ethnic group. Anyone who opposes these authoritarian populist regimes risks being labeled a traitor, a despot, or an enemy of the people.
Political scientist Pippa Norris has examined this phenomenon, viewing Donald Trump as a leader who employs populist rhetoric – what she terms "populist demagogy" – to legitimize his leadership while promoting authoritarian values that threaten liberal democratic norms. Similarly, Benjamin Netanyahu has been identified as a leader who utilizes the same rhetorical strategies to advance authoritarian principles. As Norris warned, "The combination of authoritarian values disguised by populist rhetoric is the most dangerous threat to liberal democracy." She further elaborated that "authoritarian values combined with populist rhetoric may fuel a 'cult of fear' – an increase in anxiety rather than security, darkness instead of light."
Fascism
"Of all the unresolved questions of our time, perhaps the most important is: 'What is fascism?'"
(George Orwell, 1944)
Although fascist regimes disappeared after World War II, defining the second half of the twentieth century by their absence, this does not mean that fascism as a political force has ceased to exist.
In the twenty-first century, fascism will not manifest in precisely the same form as that seen under Mussolini, Hitler, or Franco. Nor will it necessarily mirror the totalitarian threats of past eras. Instead of searching for exact historical parallels, it is more relevant to examine the underlying ideological patterns that persist.
At its core, fascism represents an uncompromising drive to reclaim the "land of the fathers" for a so-called "reborn" national community. This fundamental characteristic is evident in some contemporary far right – radical and extreme – political movements.
Fascism employs rhetoric designed to incite fear and anger as a means of fomenting division and strife among different religious, political, ideological, and ethnic groups. It deliberately targets these groups, directing its full force against them in a relentless struggle. The hallmark policies of fascism include elements such as the invocation of a mythical past, the use of propaganda, a deep-seated anti-intellectualism, a disregard for objective reality, rigid hierarchical structures, a narrative of victimhood, the emphasis on law and order as a tool of control, anxieties surrounding gender and sexuality, and the dismantling of public welfare systems and civic unity.
While the defense of certain individual principles within this framework may at times be legitimate, and even justified, there are historical moments when their convergence within a single political party or movement – such as "Otzma Yehudit" – poses a significant risk. The particular danger of fascist politics stems from the way it systematically leads to the dehumanization of specific segments of the population – whether "Arabs," "leftists," or other marginalized groups. By deliberately excluding these communities from the political and social fabric, fascist ideology erodes the collective ability to empathize with fellow citizens. This, in turn, serves as a justification for the enactment of inhumane policies – ranging from the suppression of fundamental rights and the curtailment of freedom and equality to mass deportations and, in extreme cases, large-scale acts of extermination.
One of the most evident symptoms of fascist politics is the pursuit of segregation. Its fundamental goal is to establish stark distinctions between different groups, framing society in terms of an "us versus them" dynamic – where the "us" (in-group) is deemed inherently superior and the "them" (out-group) is vilified, demonized, or reduced to a status unworthy of rights and protections. To legitimize these divisions, fascist politicians manipulate historical narratives, distorting the collective memory of society by fabricating or mythologizing the past to suit their present-day vision. In doing so, they seek to rewrite the population's shared understanding of reality, twisting the language of political and ideological discourse through propaganda, fostering an anti-intellectual climate, and undermining higher educational institutions and mass media – both of which serve as potential threats to their agenda.
Ultimately, through these calculated techniques, fascist politics engenders a state of perpetual instability, where conspiracy theories and disinformation displace rational discourse and reasoned debate.
The warning signs of this phenomenon are not merely theoretical but are actively manifesting in contemporary societies. We see the early indications – if not the fully realized consequences – of this process unfolding with increasing clarity in the United States, as well as in Israel.
Some theorists argue that when democracy is undermined by right-wing conservative forces – as is increasingly evident in the United States s well as in Israel – it collapses because its foundational elements become intertwined with fascism. When populism adopts authoritarian features, the result is often a regime fundamentally at odds with democratic principles. However, while populism as a whole may be seen as a form of democratic authoritarianism (and thus categorized as a "radical movement"), fascism is inherently a violent dictatorship (and therefore qualifies as an "extremist movement").
As early as the 1930s, the question arose in the United States: "Has fascism come to America?" This concern was notably raised by the American journalist and novelist Sinclair Lewis, recipient of the 1930 Nobel Prize for Literature. In his 1935 novel It Can't Happen Here, Lewis challenged the assumption that America was immune to fascism. His central thesis suggested the opposite: that fascism could indeed take root in the United States (where "it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross").