Final answer:
Populist reforms aimed to unite various societal groups to create social stability, focusing on nation-building and economic self-sufficiency during times like the Great Depression. Movements often had internal struggles and varied in political spectrum from left to right, but all shared a common goal of empowering 'regular people' against elites.
Step-by-step explanation:
Populist reforms sought social stability by unifying elites and subaltern peoples under the lofty rhetoric of nation-building, economic reform, and democratic values. These reforms included import substitution industrialization, land reform, and reduced dependency on international markets, which became particularly salient during the crisis of the Great Depression. Populists also targeted infrastructure improvements, education, and housing to benefit the broader population. However, populist movements often struggled with internal conflicts. For example, in the United States, early populism was a movement by farmers and workers against economic injustice and power imbalances, evolving over time to address concerns like immigration and economic struggles of average Americans.
The Populists attempted to create a broad coalition, including the formation of the People's Party, which sought to unite farmers and urban workers against established political elites. This was seen as a challenge to the Democratic Party in the South, leading to shifts in political dynamics at the time. While populism has historically appeared on both the left and right of the political spectrum, with variants like Bolivarian socialism on the left and more recent conservative populism in the US, all populist movements share an emphasis on giving a voice to the 'regular people' and often involve strong rhetoric against political and economic elites.