The current problems of the functioning of modern democracy in the conditions of the global crisis, one of the manifestations of which is the rapid spread of political populism, are considered in the thesis. The inner essence of populism as a component of the political culture of a democratic society is explored; the risks and threats of populism for a successful transformation of modern democracy are clarified. The objective (historical, economic, social, political) and subjective (mental, socio-psychological) factors of the constant updating of populism in various historical and specific manifestations: ideology, political movement, political activity, political technologies, type of thinking are analyzed. There are conflicting political and cultural shifts, ideological changes in the depth of the ground as the reason of the actualization of populist rhetoric and politics at the present stage of the development of democracy. Paradoxical in this process is that in the information age of rapid accumulation and dissemination of knowledge in parallel there is a primitivation of human potential. Nowadays in the world the borders between reality and virtue, truth and falsehood are erased, facts lose their meaning, deconstruction of truth takes place, traditional ideologies collapse, moral relativism, hypocrisy and double standards are shrinking. Total irrationalism provides the growth of the popularity of marginal political forces that endanger democracy and Western civilization. On the basis of historical and retrospective analysis it is argued that those societies whose political culture was characterized by little developed democratic traditions, lack of civic responsibility, paternalism, were found to be more susceptible to populism. Societies with established democratic features of political culture were more resistant to the temptations of populism, successfully overcame and overcome modernization crises, remaining faithful to the values of freedom and responsibility. It is stressed that the following factors may contribute to securing, or, at least, reducing the negative impact of populism on a democratic society: 1) legislative norms that ensure the transparency of the electoral process, regulate methods and means of using electoral technologies; 2) the readiness of the political elite to engage in an honest dialogue with society both during the period of the exercise of power and in the course of election campaigns; 3) transparency and responsibility for making political decisions that must be understood by society, first of all, with regard to the expected consequences; 4) raising the level of a rational component of the voter's political consciousness through the actualization and spread of political education, involving citizens in active social and political activities; 5) regarding post-Soviet societies, this is also the formation of moral and social responsibility for the quality of political power, the struggle of paternalism in political culture; 6) active educational and educational activities of politicians, public authorities and opinion leaders with target groups, society as a whole in relation to the rejection of populism. An important factor in reducing the space for populism is the awareness of citizens and politicians when making political decisions about their social interests and their own system of socio-political values. That is what creates the conditions for the formation of a constructive political opposition based on the support of civil society, and returning confidence to politicians reduces the level of absenteeism of citizens. It is argued that the paradox of populism manifests itself in the fact that it signals the emergence of internal problems in the system and to some extent indicates the direction of its transformation and improvement in order to establish a new equilibrium and ensure the stable development of democracy. The need to develop effective means and mechanisms to neutralize the dangerous influence of populism on the functioning of democracy as a socio-political system actualize the study of this phenomenon not only as a style of political activity, but primarily as a political and cultural phenomenon. This task seems particularly relevant in Ukraine at the present stage of democratic transit, when its internal contradictions and problems begin to resonate with global challenges. The spread of populism here threatens the destruction of the still not secure institutional foundations of democracy and the loss of state sovereignty.
