The Democratic People, who are you? An Investigation into the Concept of the Democratic People in Contemporary France

(in English): This thesis deals with the phenomenon of populism on examples from contemporary France. Regarding the complexity of the concept and also the fact that scholars couldn't find a consensus on its definition, the author decided to examine it through Ernesto Laclau`s theory of populism which centers the construction of the people. Being oriented in French modern history and politics, the author chose for her analysis the current political movements - La France Insoumise and the National Front, which are discourses are centered on the construction of the people. Within the period between 2016 and 2018, she observed the way in which the notion of the people was constructed by the main representatives of both movements (especially the chairman of the National Front Marine Le Pen and the chairman of La France Insoumise Jean-Luc Mélenchon) with the aim to trace whether these movements differed and what role their leaders played. To illustrate her discourse analysis, the author conducted several semi-structured interviews with activists of the investigated movements and participated in organized public events. She concludes that there exists a difference between the construction of the people by National Front and by La France Insoumise same as their leaders often disagree with its activist..