Democracy, populism, and the rule of law: A reconsideration of their interconnectedness
| Published date | 01 August 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/02633957211041444 |
| Author | Vasileios Adamidis |
| Date | 01 August 2024 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/02633957211041444
Politics
2024, Vol. 44(3) 386 –399
© The Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/02633957211041444
journals.sagepub.com/home/pol
Democracy, populism, and the
rule of law: A reconsideration
of their interconnectedness
Vasileios Adamidis
Nottingham Trent University, UK
Abstract
Popular sovereignty plays a central role in both the democratic and the populist ideology. While
democracy’s version of qualified sovereignty is accepted as mutually constitutive with the rule
of law, populism’s version of absolute sovereignty is seen as incompatible with this ideal. The
article reconsiders this oversimplifying approach. By examining the interaction of these concepts
with a nuanced account of the rule of law, it argues for the compatibility of both democracy
and populism with different versions of this ideal. While this remains a key distinguishing factor
between democracy and populism, the ambiguity of the rule of law still allows populism to claim
that it complies with a thin version of this concept.
Keywords
democracy, populism, rule of law
Received: 19th October 2020; Revised version received: 21st June 2021; Accepted: 28th June 2021
The article explores the compatibility of two ‘essentially contested concepts’ (Gallie,
1956: 169), democracy (Spicer, 2019; Tilly, 2007) and populism (Mudde, 2017), with the
equally ambiguous concept of the rule of law (Waldron, 2002). Scholars have long
debated the relationship between populism and democracy and, indeed, much of the disa-
greement about the impact of populism on the latter is a direct result of different defini-
tions used for these concepts. The argument of the article is that, contrary to the simplistic
view that sees democracy as compatible and populism as irreconcilable with the rule of
law, it is a prerequisite to elucidate the exact version of these concepts in order for valid
conclusions to be drawn.1
The article argues that democracy, especially in its currently dominant liberal form,
aspires to be compatible with the thickest versions of the rule of law, while populism may
only be compatible with the most minimal, thinner versions, often described as ‘rule by
law’, that can possibly accommodate its putative endorsement of absolute sovereignty.
Corresponding author:
Vasileios Adamidis, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham NG1 4FQ, UK.
Email: Vasileios.adamidis@ntu.ac.uk
1041444POL0010.1177/02633957211041444PoliticsAdamidis
research-article2021
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