The article analyses existing problems of identification and analysis of the right-wing populism in the context of traditional democracies’ crisis and the attempts of searching for the new ways to attract the electorate base. With a drop in turnout in elections, a drop in voter confi dence, an increase in anti-establishment sentiments, as well as the development of political technologies, in the face of popularity of right-wing populism, the mainstream parties are faced a challenge of retaining the votes of general population in new conditions. Donald Trump was the fi rst signal of a radical transformation of American participation and party system. Seven years after the 2016 elections, populism has become an integral part of the politics of the United States, as well as Canada, in which, until 2021, this trend seemed impossible as a concept because of multiculturalism and strong polarization within various social groups. Based on the analysis of the main actors among populists and traditional representatives of the right spectrum in the party systems of the United States and Canada, an attempt was made to test the possibility of highlighting conceptual diff erences between them applicable to the problem of constructing the theory of populism.