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The rising trend of populism found in many countries today is giving rise to a new breed of “supermen” intent on remaking the political and economic order. Some of them are quite extreme in their views. The near victory by right-wing Norbert Hofer for the presidency of Austria was built on public unease with both the economy and mass migration into Europe.

Such extremism is worrisome as it provides an opportunity for either left- or right-wing leaders to suppress individual rights in favour of greater political control over the economy and security. The test of a true democracy is rejecting the centralization of power in the hands of a leader who could use it to suppress the opposition.

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In its most distasteful form, it can lead to outright suppression of opposition groups, as we are witnessing now in Venezuela. President Nicolas Madura is blocking the opposition by using handpicked judges to support what is evolving into a dictatorship. And in Turkey, after suppressing journalists and revoking parliamentary immunity for his opposition critics, president Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seizing executive powers that will give him control over foreign relations and security. Security concerns often lead to strongmen taking on powers that could ultimately wrest control from democratically elected bodies.