Avrupa’da Sol-Popülizmin İktidar Deneyimi: Syriza ve Podemos

Abstract

There are many studies which have been conducted on the populism debate, both theoretically and practical cases from various countries, including the issue of authoritarianism of democracies. Generally this debate was generally understood through Latin America in the previous periods, and then it is handled together with the far-right tendencies in the European side. In this study differently, Syriza and Podemos parties which have left-populist tendencies, have been analyzed on the processes of becoming the party and coalition partner. In the study, first of all, the theoretical grounds and discursive differences of right and left-populism are examined with a general framework by focusing on recent studies. Subsequently, the government experience of left-populist politics is explained through two parties. The main question of the study is to what extent movements with a left populist tendency have changed in the process of becoming a party and a government. Both Syriza and Podemos have not been able to significantly change the functioning of mainstream politics in their countries. However, parties have turned into crucial actors in terms of bringing the democratic debate back to the agenda and affecting the general course of political debates. As a result, it can be emphasized that even though the parties, which are the subject of the article, got rid of the radical elements and became the actors of the central politics, they caused practical and normative transformations in the democratic process.