How does the moral rhetoric of populists differ from mainstream parties?

While moralistic rhetoric is considered an invariable part of populism, empirical analysis on the role of morality in populist politics is still scarce and rests on an inconsistent concept of morality. Furthermore, a systematic approach to comparing the morality of populist and mainstream political parties has received only limited research attention. This article combines a socio-psychological approach to morality and normative moral theories and applies them to the analysis of populist and mainstream parties’ rhetoric. Empirically, the article draws on the qualitative content analysis of speeches of Swedish parliamentary parties. The findings indicate that the moral rhetoric of the populist Sweden Democrats diverges notably from that of the other parties in terms of the variety and focus of moral concerns as well as the way moral ideas are justified. Moreover, although populists are typically viewed to moralise to achieve short-term political gains, the moral make-up of the Sweden Democrats is designed to build an enduring ideational foundation for their political projects.