Populism and Islamism: The People-Centrism and Anti-Elitism of the Moroccan Justice and Development Party (2011 to 2021)

Abstract

This article explores the interaction between populism and Islamism in the Moroccan Justice and Development Party (pjd), the party that has led two consecutive government coalitions (2011–2016; 2016–2021) before its electoral defeat in 2021. To approach this object of study, this research follows the ideational approach to populism and uses a mixed methods research desing. The combination of quantitative data on party positioning from the Global Party Survey (gps) and qualitative discourse analysis allows us to further study the distinctive and differentiated populist profile of the pjd. By analyzing how the party describes the elites it opposes and the people it claims to represent, it can be understood how the pjd rhetorically deploys people-centrism and limits anti-elitism in its discourses. Moreover, the study demonstrates how these representations are linked to the pjd’s political trajectory and to domestic practices and context. This article contributes to the broader debate on populism around the world and to the analysis of the multidimensionality of populism in a within-country perspective.