Populism and Islamism: What Relationship? The Case of Moroccan Justice and Development Party

The North African region represents a new and relevant case for debating populism, elite-people relationships, and political strategies by (so-called) Islamist parties. This paper focuses on the Moroccan Justice and Development Party (JDP), which has been leading the governmental coalition since 2011 and whose leader, A. Benkirane, has emerged as a popular figure within the national party landscape. This analysis follows the ideational approach to populism. From this perspective, populism is understood as a ‘thin ideology’ mainly present in the political discourse. Thus, I analyze JDP official documents and leaders’ speeches to determine not only if there are populist elements in them, but also to what extent. Furthermore, this analysis would permit to establish the political moments in which the JDP resorts to this communication strategy.