Populism combines the following characteristics: a rejection of economic policies linked to globalization; a condemnation of political and economic elites perceived as allied, directly or indirectly, to globalization policies; a nationalist conception of the national interest; a mistrust of immigration, seen as a threat to identity; as for populism's supporters, a rather popular sociological profile, and an electoral profile that tends toward the "hard right" ("droite dure), without ruling out bridges to the "hard left" ("gauche dure"). Having said this, I propose to defend three theses: populism is not the solution to the problems of the countries where it is developing, whether in France, the United States or elsewhere; it would be dangerous, however, to ignore the crises of which populism is the product; it is essential to take the measure of the problems that favor its emergence and to try to provide answers to them.
