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From the beginning of 20th-century nationalism has been widely linked to populism. The meaning of the first term might be clear: it refers to an ideology inspired by the exaltation of the concept of nation, which is resolved in the authoritarian affirmation of values that transcends the demands of the political and social reality of foreign countries. Sometimes, though, it seems that the nationalist ideology transcends also the demands of the political and social reality of the country to whom it refers. In fact, it often tends to ignore or underestimate the necessary interconnections between different economies and the inevitable reflexes of nationalist policies on a country economy. In this latter sense it could be closer to the current idea of populism.
Since the meaning attributed to the word populism can vary1, it should be pointed out the sense in which it will be used in this essay. With negative connotations it is currently used in Italy, and it will be used hereinafter, to indicate the demagogic attitude aimed at meeting the expectations of the people, regardless of any assessment of their content, their appropriateness and advisability. The term could also be used, and it will be used hereinafter, to describe a behavior incline to show a political choice as much closer to the expectations of the people than it really is.
During the last years, in Italy and in Europe these two political tendencies—nationalism and populism—are intertwined2 and linked to an anti-European sentiment3. EU institutions are seen at the same time as antinational, for obliging the national States to adopt policies against their own interest, and as anti-people, leading the economies against the common people’s needs in order to satisfy obscure financial interests of the higher classes and of the so called “strong powers”. This might explain the interconnections which led populist and nationalist political forces to the government of the country.
