I have so far been mainly concerned with dissecting the substantive manifestations of populism rather than entering into the undergrowth of (semantic) debates about the term itself, the many myths surrounding it or the dismissal of it as something new, surprising or indeed frightening (e.g., Jäger 2018). But a book on populism without comments on its history of reception among followers, opposition or academics is inconceivable. This chapter does not aim for any kind of exhaustive treatment of the issue— this would be an impossible task— but merely to address the most important myths, misconceptions and (half- )truths that keep popping up, and to supplement remarks made in passing along the way with a more direct head- on discussion and hopefully some clarification.

In his short but comprehensive article, “Understanding the Global Rise of Populism,” Michael Cox mulls over some of the same issues and provides us with a good point of entry (Cox 2018). He argues, for instance, that populism, though “it defies easy pigeon- holing,” is actually able to unite “most writers on the subject” (p. 3) in a mixture of surprise and “a strong dash of ideological distaste” (ibid.). “They don't much like it,” as he tersely puts it. “Sneering or patronizing” seem to be the two most frequent reactions to populism, as John Stepek is quoted for saying (ibid., 4). And Cox also provides us with a brief explanation of this type of reaction. It is “understandable, given that so much of what some populists say is deeply concerning from a liberal perspective. […] Still we face a quandary. On the one side, there are the analysts of populism who tend in the main to look at the phenomenon all the time holding their noses as if there were a bad smell in the room. On the other, there are millions of very ‘ordinary people’ out there who actually vote for such movements” (ibid., 4; my emphasis). And he succinctly sums up as follows: “If nothing else, it says something about the state of the West when you have the overwhelming bulk of public intellectuals lining up one side to critique populism […], and millions of their fellow citizens voting in their droves for parties and individuals of which most experts and academics appear to disapprove” (ibid.).