Populism as Empirical Phenomena
Although populism is civilian-based and anti-elitism values that extremely advocates civilians，this term has derived different characteristics during its wide use and has formed various contextual and semantic concepts.As Taggart said，“Populism，as an empirical phenomenon，is a complex uncomfortable historical and contemporary examples”.[42] Due to the wide variety of examples called “populism”，it is better to refer to the specific examples called “populism” in history and literature as“empirical phenomena” of populism in order to distinguish them from the“values” of populism.In this way，populism is relatively clear and specific at the values level，and is extensive and diverse at the level of empirical phenomena.
We call those people or organizations that believe in or hold，apply or practice populist values “populists”.In real politics，“populists” are mainly divided into four types： （ⅰ） political parties or factions，such as the “Populist Party” in the United States and the extreme right-wing parties in Western Europe；（ⅱ） Politicians，such as Perón in Latin America and Trump in the United States；（ⅲ） intellectuals，such as Russia ’s “Populists”；（ⅳ） Civilians themselves，often seen in the spontaneous resistance of civilians.Among the four，populist politicians are more common.
Populist politicians can be further divided into two types: one is career-oriented.These politicians believe in populist values and regard the ultimate concern for civilians，especially grassroots civilians，as their ideal and career.They put these values into practice through political actions.The other is speculative.These politicians do not really believe in populist values，but only take some political strategies and tactics for political games or for the need to obtain votes.They use these values to seek the commanding heights of political morality，mobilize the civilians who account for the majority of the population，especially the grassroots civilians，to the greatest extent，so that they can have an advantage in the game with political opponents or reactionary forces.Populist politicians call themselves “the people” or speak in the name of “the people” and directly resort to “the people” to influence the political process with the radical demands of civilians and even the grassroots civilians.Their political mobilization is also extremely inflammatory，so they are often called “political demagogues”.
Populists have formed complicated phenomena of populism by mobilizing “people” to participate in and influence the political process.Russia ’s “Populists” launched the “join the people” movement，trying to bypass capitalism and make a direct transition to socialism through traditional village communities.The “Populist Party” of the United States proposed to “return power to the hands of civilians” in an attempt to change the traditional political system of the United States.Perón in Latin America directly resorted to “the people” to oppose political opponents and gained and maintained power through the non-institutionalized support of “the people”.France ’s Front National，attracting supporters by advocating the policies of “giving priority to the French”，“restricting foreign immigrants” and opposing European integration，has entered the mainstream politics of France.
When discussing the fuzziness of concepts，Wittgenstein mentioned that language and its meaning are established in people ’s communication，and different phenomena are included in the same concept category，often not because they share some “common essence”，but because of their“family resemblance”.[43] For example，members of a family have certain similarities in body shape，appearance，eyes，gait，or temperament.The reason why different experience phenomena of populism belong to the“populism” family is that they share the “family resemblance” of taking civilians as the standard，extremely advocating civilians and opposing elitism.However，it should be noted that although populism，as an“empirical phenomenon”，advocates the concept of “civilians” although it also refers to “civilians”，in different social，historical and cultural contexts，the connotation of civilians has shifted its semantic focus.In the Russian populist phenomena in the middle and late 19th century，“the people”actually referred to “peasants” who occupied the absolute majority of the population at that time.In the Populist Party movement of the United States in the late 19th century，“the people” implied civilians like “farmers”.In the populist phenomena in Latin America in the 1950s and 1960s，the focus of “the people” was more on urban residents with workers as the main body.In the neo-populist phenomena in Western Europe that arose in the 1980s，“the people” referred to “civilians” as distinguished from elites，big financial groups，intellectuals and politicians.When faced with immigrants，it also referred to “civilians of their own country”，“civilians of their own nationality” or “civilians of their own ethnic group”.It is because of the different understandings and definitions of “the people”that the populist phenomena occurring in different parts of the world also show extensive differences in terms of the forms of expression，participants and demands.
As a concept，populism can have a clear connotation.As for the connotation derived or reconstructed from it in reality，it can be classified into the category of empirical phenomena of populism，and its diversity，with even mutual exclusion among them allowed.Based on the diversity of populist phenomena，the author suggests that when using the term“populism”，attention should be paid to the two levels of populism，value and empirical phenomenon，and it is better to make appropriate restrictions or put them in a specific context to make them specific and precise，and try to avoid the generalization or even abuse of the concept of “populism”.For example，populist parties，populist politicians and populist strategies are all related to populism，but they are not equal to populism itself.Of course，the layered reconstruction of the concept of populism does not mean that populist values and empirical phenomena are completely separated and parallel to each other.In reality，populism both include values and empirical phenomena.It is because of the populist values that politicians，political parties and intellectuals who believe，hold，apply and practice these values have emerged，and therefore numerous and complicated populist experiences have emerged.Similarly，the underlying populist values can also be captured in most populist experiences.