Rhetoric and Reality: The Political and Electoral Success of Populist Candidates

Research Question: Does the Use of populist rhetoric by candidates in state legislatures lead to greater political and/or electoral success compared to their peers? Hypothesis: Populist rhetoric positions the politician as one of the common people fighting against a threat or corruption against the elite. This will help the politicians using this type of "we the people" rhetoric to gain electoral and / or political success with them having a loyal base for political mobility i.e. They will be overall more successful than their peers that are not populist.