ABSTRACT
Fascism tout court might no longer be an acceptable ideology, and political parties describing themselves as neo-fascist usually remain at the margins of the political debate, but populism can reintroduce crypto-fascist ideas of power by formally adopting democratic elements. In Western Europe, left-wing populism will avoid social stigma and constitute a credible alternative as long as it will protect the rule of law and all the informal norms that keep democracy alive. In other words, left-wing populism must confront its Communist past and adopt a type of discourse that is inclusive, respectful of minority rights, checks and balances, and media freedom. An elitist contempt for the choices of the people leads to a stigmatization of populism, every type of populism, but this attitude inevitably reinforces populism itself, including its authoritarian and xenophobic declinations. Populism is a thin ideology, and what ultimately matters is to observe in combination with which type of full ideology it appears.
