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This article explores various conceptualizations of populism and tests their heuristic virtues against a Romanian case, the Legion of the Archangel Michael. First, after reviewing several contemporary theoretical approaches on populism, a term whose ambiguity is constantly deplored, the study tries to clarify its content by examining it in relation with other fundamental notions like democracy, representation, or people. Second, while acknowledging the relative consensus of the historiography as to the fascist nature of the Legionary Movement, the article focuses on the debate around its populist character. The disagreement in interpreting the character of the Movement is arguably due to the variable criteria that define populism, fascism and their relation.