Political beliefs, “catch-all” populism, and political fideism: The leader-centric propaganda model

Abstract

In this paper, we will attempt to consider the issue of constructing and justifying political beliefs under the conditions of populist politics and authoritarian regimes. We will address the non-ideological nature of the so-called ?catch-all? populism, attempts to exclude the educated and intellectual elite from public political life, and the use of certain informal logical fallacies in the development of a populist propaganda model. We will also point out the similarities between religious and political propaganda. In this regard, we will try to interpret the leader-centric propaganda model from the perspective of Leibnizian theodicy and, relying on Wittgenstein?s religious fideism, introduce the category of political fideism as a way to better understand the effects of populist-leader propaganda.