Crucially, the goals of transformative populism according to Sanders’ framing can only be achieved by increasing popular, democratic participation—contra centrist or technocratic Democratic Party politics, which may regard the people as obstructing the smooth operation of government. This transformative political program claims a necessary link between mass participation and transformation and insists that the latter cannot exist without the former.
This is the kind of populism that has been working for both the left and right. People understand that they can make a difference that can alter the state of the "ruling" class and benefit society as a whole.