ABSTRACT
The particular history of India and the diversity of populism within the country require going beyond contemporary approaches to populism, considering that these approaches have originated and evolved from, and therefore are mostly preoccupied with, the Americas and Europe. This chapter suggests an approach that is more appropriate to the Indian context, and perhaps that of other multicultural, post-colonial federal democracies.
The chapter first argues that populism in India originated prior to the emergence of full democracy and therefore the affective connection that Indians share with populism is quite distinct from that prevalent in the West. It then discusses the relevance of the ideational, strategic and cultural approaches to populism and argues that a discursive re-articulation of their components is important, because each of the approaches can explain some but not all cases.
Based on the Indian experience, the chapter proposes that populism be understood as a rupture of the status quo, for which popular sovereignty and anti-elitism are sufficient conditions and political leadership a necessary condition.
