Structure and Changes in Populist Discourse During Congressional Debates: The Peruvian Case Between 2001 and 2021

Objective/Context: One way to study populism from the political supply perspective is by analyzing its discourse. Few have studied populist discourse in congressional debates. This study seeks to understand at what level, in what forms, at what moments, associated with which parliamentary groups (government or opposition), ideological orientations, and topics populist discourse can manifest in parliamentary debates. Methodology: Using transcriptions of debates in the Peruvian Congress between 2001 and 2021, an analysis of populist discourse was conducted through Clause-Based Semantic Text Analysis (CBSTA). This technique allows for describing what level and type of populist discourse may be employed. Conclusions: The presence of populist discourse increases in contexts of political polarization. It is associated with left-wing parliamentary groups, whether in government or opposition, and with right-wing parliamentary groups when they are in opposition. It is also found that populism increases depending on the topics of debate. In the Peruvian case, it is observed that Fujimorism, starting from 2011, also plays an important role in the increase of populism. Originality: The longitudinal analysis shows how the presence of populist discourse in Congressional debates varies with time and context. While populist discourse is more associated with certain ideological orientations, it is also influenced by external variables such as political polarization.