民主政治與民粹政治是現代政治的重要表象，就政策的制定與推動過程而言，前者賦予執政者的評價是正面的，而後者則是負面的。在一般選民普遍對於政黨政治、民主政治，甚至「政治」本身出現嚴重的不信任與冷漠的態度下，執政者往往透過大眾傳播媒體，極力拉攏選民對政治的參與，提高選民對於執政者的支持度，此一現象是現代民主國家的常態。但是，就企圖獲取民意支持的操作手法而言，民主政治與民粹政治卻僅有一線之隔，存在著曖昧模糊的密切關係。本文主要透過小泉首相的政治操作手法，說明民主政治與民粹政治的關係。

Democracy and populist politics are both important features of modern
political system. In terms of policy-making and policy-promoting, leaders of democracy are given with positive evaluation, while those of populist politics are not. General voters’ distrust and indifference to party politics, democracy and even “politics” prompts democratic leaders to mobilize political participation and win voters’ support via mass media. However, in terms of manipulating voters’preferences to gain supports, there is only a fine line between democracy and populist politics. This article mainly focuses on Prime Minister Koizumi’s politicalmanipulations to clarify differences and similarities between democracy and populist politics