The desire to deepen and spread knowledge about the political realities of the country has led the ICPS to articulate, during the year 2022, a new space for debate and discussion around populism. The emergence of this new political force and its presence and roots in Catalonia have highlighted the importance of careful monitoring and analysis by the institution.

Populism has been the answer to the crisis of representation that democracies have suffered and are still suffering. An answer that is based on a direct appeal to the people, understood as the only entity with real and legitimate decision-making power on political affairs, which amounts to a proposal, if not annihilation, at least cornering of political parties and intermediate institutions and agents.

The new line of work on populisms that the ICPS is starting has developed during 2022 in two main activities: the creation of the Populism Observatory and the launch of a set of seminars and debates on populism.