POPULISM noun a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups.
As exemplified by the meteoric rise of the brexit party.
The Eurobarometer survey of surveys, which polled 27,973 European citizens between February 19 and March 4, reviewed the trend of support for the bloc across the European Union and made predictions on the likelihood of election of populist parties based on a series of 12 questions – varying from opinions on overall membership of the EU to themes the bloc should focus on.
Based on the responses collected in the poll, the European Parliament forecasted an increase in support for populist parties in Italy, France, Czech Republic and Greece – with a large number of Italian and Greek citizens polled suggesting their country has not benefited from membership of the bloc (45 percent and 40 percent respectively.) The projection was updated in April to also take into account British participation in the EU parliamentary poll.
Anxiety among European Union officials is high, with fears of a Eurosceptic, nationalist surge. The European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker claimed that the European Union has lost its “libido”.
Mr Juncker acknowledged the expected gains for populist and Eurosceptic parties in Europe-wide elections.