TWO STATES, FOUR ELECTIONS, ONE ISSUE – GREECE AND POLAND ON THE POPULIST PATH

Abstract

Populism is a phenomenon that has developed particularly in the years after the crisis in Europe. This does not mean that it did not exist in the pre-crisis era, but its impetus at this time creates significant pressures for both democracy and the very future of Europe. However, populism exist both in the right and the left of the political spectrum, but its methods goes beyond the ideological contradictions on the road to gaining and preserving power. The comparative study of these features and an attempt to categorize them is the basic aim of this article. Therefore, we use the example of the right-wing populist party “Law and Justice” which is governing Poland and the left-wing populist party, SYRIZA, which is the ruling party in Greece, in order to highlight both the differences, but most importantly the similarities in their strategies and methods.