The Discourse of Populist Party: Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) through the Anti-immigrant Rhetoric

Abstract

The populist movements have become a global phenomenon and have gotten significant votes in many European countries, such as Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in Germany, Rassemblement National (RN) in France, and Five Star Movement in Italy. The issues being used by the populist movement mainly fall under two categories: the economic insecurity and the cultural backlash. Globalisation and the internet are contributing to the emergence of the populist movement. The massive coverage provides the populist movement as a symbolisation of “the alternative voice” that challenges the perceived “evil” elites. This article discusses the definition of populism from three different approaches and sees how they are translated into a case study on the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS). SDS is depicted as the representative of “the Slovenian people” by accentuating the anti-immigrant discourse in their political campaign. The discourse is visible through their posters and slogan. The party also uses alternative media to spread its discourse, especially to attack its political opponents.