Populist Discourse on the Left and Right: Convergences and Divergences

This article examines the discursive features of populism across the ideological spectrum, focusing on both left-wing and right-wing variants in Brazil, Europe, and the United States. Adopting a qualitative discourse analysis framework, the study explores how populist actors construct “the people” and “the elite” through rhetorical polarisation, moral dichotomies, and emotional appeals. Drawing on case studies that include the Workers’ Party and Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Podemos and Rassemblement National in Europe, as well as Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump in the United States, the article identifies convergences in populist communication—such as anti-elitism, crisis framing, and personalistic leadership—while also highlighting stark divergences in ideological content, identity boundaries, and policy orientation. The analysis is further expanded to include the cases of Chega in Portugal and Fratelli d’Italia in Italy, offering a more comprehensive understanding of right-wing populism in Southern Europe. The findings demonstrate that while populism shares structural discursive patterns, its expression is highly contingent upon national context, historical memory, and institutional dynamics. The article concludes that populism, as a discursive strategy, can both challenge and erode democratic norms depending on its ideological orientation and communicative practices. Keywords: Populism; Discourse analysis; Left-wing populism; Right-wing populism; Comparative politics