Summary of Could populism actually be good for democracy?

Many observers of global politics are alarmed about the rise of illiberal democracies, in which democratically elected strongmen start infringing on individual freedoms and minority rights. These governments derive their legitimacy from the democratic ideal of popular sovereignty by claiming to execute the will of the people who have elected them. Yet they also confirm the worst fears of democracy skeptics: that unrestrained “mob rule” can lead to a tyranny of the majority, the violation of fundamental rights and freedoms, and rash, emotionally charged policy decisions that don’t serve citizens’ long-term interests. Such anxieties about democracy date back to Ancient Greece. Plato described Athenian democracy as chaotic and lamented the fact that public opinion, rather than knowledge and reason, informed policymaking.