ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the role populism as an ideology based on the perceived opposition between the pure people and the corrupt elites played in recent Polish politics. Specifically, how nationalist populist parties (PiS and KORWiN) in Poland relied on the populist ideation ) rise to power. The chapter shows the appeal of the populist ideation from a psychological perspective by investigating the relationship between right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and support for populist leaders in the Polish context. Survey data indicates that the parties' anti-minority stances were especially appealing for those looking at the world in terms of RWA, but the appeal was moderated by a perceived threat to tradition and conventions.
