The pandemic has led to the collapse of populism

 

 Around the world, support for populism has fallen sharply, writes The Times, citing a study conducted by the University of Cambridge. According to the publication, the study involved 750,000 people from 109 countries. As a result, since the beginning of the pandemic, trust in technocrats and scientists has increased significantly in society, and trust in populists has decreased.

According to the authors of the study, a possible reason for this trend is that many people consider the policies of famous populists regarding the coronavirus pandemic to be a failure (especially Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro). Scholars also suggest that the pandemic has become a "unifying event," while populism tends to prevail in divided societies.

According to The Times, the survey notes that the proportion of Europeans willing to vote for populist parties has fallen by 11%. Researchers say some populists, such as Donald Trump and Andrei Babish, have already lost power, while others (such as Bolsonaro) are so unpopular that they are likely to be replaced soon. Even the position of leaders consolidating power, such as Viktor Orban and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has shaken markedly, the paper said, citing the survey.

 "From Erdogan and Bolsonaro to the 'strong leaders' of Eastern Europe, the world is experiencing a wave of populism. The coronavirus probably caused the smoothing of this wave, "the publication quotes one of the authors of the study, Dr. Robert Foy.