The purpose of the present paper is to understand what roles Populism can have, which would explain why it is currently on the rise in the world. The appearance of populism has been related to a crisis in society, based on economic, such as unemployment (Algan et al, 2018), or political reasons, e.g. distrust in the decisions made by the elites, such as those of the European Union. At the same time, researchers such as Moffitt (2016) have considered that Populism can lead to provoking various crises. Populist leaders and parties offer an alternative to mainstream politics, and this is why they can be of various orientations, such as left or right. Populist leaders and parties can be seen as an adaptation to the individualist or subculture trends in society, since they address the needs of certain communities which are against the mainstream politics, or feel excluded by them. Society has found various means of preventing violent social rebellions under the form of allowing protests where citizens express themselves, as well as populist leaders and parties, as if to ensure stability in society. Yet, does this happen in all cases? Is Populism a means of ensuring stability in society or a means of creating itself social unrest? The paper will give examples from various countries.
Keywords: individualism, mainstream, minority, communities, values