Last week, amid much fanfare, the Guardian launched its new series on populism. Its contributions include research into the rise of populist parties in Europe, investigations into international networks supporting these new populist forces, and quizzes that place participants on a scale of populism. These are supplemented by analysis from some of the leading political scientists in the field of populism studies.

Prominent among these is Cas Mudde, academic superstar of the discipline, whose definition of populism provides the intellectual basis for the series. Populism, he says, is a flexible ideology, which combines with a “host” that can either be “on the left or right,” but is characterized fundamentally by anti-elitism. Populists, according to these terms, see society as “ultimately separated into two homogeneous and antagonistic groups,” consisting of “the pure people” and “the corrupt elite.” This dichotomy forms the basis of a populist worldview, framing politics as an expression of the “general will” and offering little ground for pluralism.

In attempting to develop this approach, populists are “moralistic rather than programmatic,” preferring to demonize opponents than to debate them on policy terms. Moreover, they are prone to illegitimately personalizing the political sphere, rather than engaging in its modern complexities.