Right-wing and left-wing populism

From a civil-theoretical perspective, populism can be understood systematically, unlike according to common criteria such as "criticism of the elites" and "right-wing populism." According to this view, populists think unilaterally, according to the logic of self-interest, power, and friend/enemy logic; they are distant from or reject two-dimensional and multidimensional (multilateral) coordination. Consequently, they favor autocratic forms of thought and action and struggle with policy-related and humanitarian demands beyond their unilateralist thought patterns.

Right-wing and left-wing populists differ in their stance on equality: While right-wing populists justify or even exaggerate inequality, left-wing populists are guided by the principle of equality. However, both right-wing and left-wing populists think in a narrow, power-oriented way, meaning that the rule of law and democracy mean little to them or that they even reject it outright. Consequently, they oscillate between mutual hostility (as left or right) and tacit alliances against democracy or in favor of autocracy.

However politically significant the battles between right and left may be, they do not replace the shared commitment to democracy and the rule of law.