Discussions about the nature of political populism occupy an important place in contemporary political science. Is it a threat to democracy or a necessary corrective? The author thinks that populism is, at the same time, an instrument of inclusion of certain electoral groups in the political life and a means of exclusion of certain population groups that are proclaimed “the Other”. Such ambivalence of populist phenomenon is strengthened by the examples that demonstrate ruinous consequences of a populist rule for liberal democracy.