Chicken or The Egg Question: Modern-day populism is a threat to democracy.

"There are many lessons to be learned from the rise of Donald Trump and
his possible election to a second term on Tuesday. Among them: The
United States is not immune to or walled off from the political trends
and tides that affect other countries, especially other democracies.
There is a global populist wave — or two waves: one emanating from the
left, the other emanating, as the Trump campaign does, from the right.
Traditional parties and politicians have not yet found an effective way
to counter this trend, and their failure to do so is at the heart of the
risk facing democracy.
In multiple ways, populism corrodes democracies from within. It coarsens
political discourse, stokes societal divisions by casting policy issues
in existential “us vs. them” terms, and fuels widespread distrust of
institutions and expertise."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/31/populism-democracy-trump-berlusconi-duterte-thaksin/
Is populism a threat to an otherwise healthy democracy with ritualistic
voting? Or populism the symptom of fake democracy with ritualistic
voting?