Who are the Populists? An Analysis of Individual-Level Populism Across Continents

As of recent, populism research has become more systematically interested in the individual as an analytical entity. Nonetheless, most studies focus on the measurement of individual-level populism and how it can explain vote choice or party support. This, however, does not provide insights into who populists are, how we can characterise them and why certain individuals might (not) have populist affinities. From that perspective, this study puts forward a comprehensive profile of the populist individual and analyses its patterns of variance across multiple European/Latin American countries. First, we examine how widespread populism as an individual-level construct actually is across countries. Second, we bring forward a descriptive profile of ‘the populist’ and highlight whether they look different between countries. Third, we engage in a more detailed empirical analysis of the origins of individual-level populism in an attempt to explain the differences in levels of populism between citizens. Here, we emphasise the roles of education, political interest and political trust as part of such a cross-national explanatory framework.