WordWeb Online

1. A politician who only advocates policies that are popular
    
2. Someone who advocates the rights of the common people over those of the elite
    
3. Someone (esp. a politician) appealing to the real or perceived interests (and sometimes prejudices) of ordinary people

1. (of a policy, etc.) put forward just because it would be popular
    
2. (often pejorative) appealing to the real or perceived interests (and sometimes prejudices) of ordinary people, as opposed to the interests of a privileged elite; often characterized as promoting over-simplified (and hence most likely unworkable) solutions to complex or intractable problems
   "Populist parties have more than tripled their support in Europe in the last 20 years"

Derived forms: populists

Type of: advocate, advocator, exponent, proponent

Encyclopedia: Populist