Populism does have both right and left forms (and others besides), but that doesn&#x27;t mean that it isn&#x27;t inimical to democracy. It is not hard to find historical examples of populists who have used the vote to seize power. Democracy is a lot more than voting, and it&#x27;s certainly more than having one last free vote for a populist who ends free voting.<p>There&#x27;s also a particularly ugly history of populists stirring up racial hatred as a means to power, which I think is especially dangerous.