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The emotional roots of left-right populism and why people turn to it!
2026-01-17 16:58:20 / IDE
Populism is usually explained as a product or problem of ideas: lack of information, manipulation, authoritarian tendencies. This explanation is convenient, because it shifts the problem to “others”. But this explanation consistently fails to provide solutions and to avoid the destructive consequences when populisms come to power. Populism does not fade, on the contrary, it grows, even when the facts are against it. Perhaps because we are looking for the cause in the wrong place and way. Populism does not initially arise from ideology. It arises from unrepresentative emotions when these emotions reach a critical mass and spread in a given place.
Many people today feel that the world has become uncertain. Working no longer guarantees stability and security for the future. Rules change frequently. What seemed clear yesterday is unclear today. This situation creates a simple but powerful feeling:
“I am no longer safe in my country.”
And when this feeling lasts and expands sufficiently in a society, favorable conditions are created for the emergence of populist approaches. People do not look for complicated analyses. They look for clear answers and figures that provide reassurance.
Right-wing populism: fear that seeks order
In right-wing populism, the central emotion is fear. Not always a concrete fear, but the feeling that things are getting out of control. That is why its discourse relies on: order, boundaries, authority, punishment. These are not just political slogans. They are emotional calming mechanisms. They are ways of telling yourself that the world still has shape and boundaries. The right-wing populist leader is not followed because he is more knowledgeable, but because he seems strong. Because he speaks without doubts. Because he promises control, even when this control is more symbolic than real.
Left-wing populism: the anger that demands justice
In left-wing populism, the central emotion is anger. The anger of those who feel left behind, exploited, given more than they received. The key words here are: injustice, inequality, corruption, abuse. People do not feel threatened in their identity, but insulted in their dignity. The left-wing populist leader is perceived as someone who is “finally saying what we have been feeling for a long time.”
The enemy as emotional relief
Both right-wing and left-wing populism need an enemy.
Not necessarily out of hatred, but because pain needs a name. When anxiety or anger has no direction, it becomes unbearable. An enemy focuses it, makes it understandable, and gives the individual the feeling that he is no longer powerless.
Why facts are not enough
Because fear and anger are not born of a lack of information, but of life experience. Statistics do not calm the frightened. Technical explanations do not comfort the angry. Often, the way citizens are spoken to makes them feel despised, not helped.
A conclusion without illusions
Populism is not a political accident.
It is a signal that many people are no longer finding a tolerable way to exist in an uncertain world. Some seek closure to avoid disintegration. Some seek overthrow to avoid becoming numb.
If we want to truly understand this phenomenon, we need to stop asking just “why do we think this way?”
and start asking: “What state are we trying to survive emotionally?”
Without this question, we will continue to talk a lot but understand little.
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