Two years ago, I presented a series of lectures on populism. Since then, I have regularly received emails
from attendees saying that the series significantly helped them understand what
has been and is going on in American politics.
Many of those currently in office around the United States ran for
election on a populist agenda, promising to restore American greatness and
prosperity while portraying themselves as the champions of "the forgotten
man" and of "traditional American values.” Not being a populist myself, I have been
wondering if genuine populists are feeling betrayed.
Populism is Not an “-ism”
Because it ends with “-ism,” [populism] is often mistaken
for an ideology, a counterpart to socialism and liberalism in competition
for a coherent governing philosophy. It is no such thing. (The
Revenge of Power: How Autocrats Are Reinventing Politics for the 21st Century,
Moisés Naím)
Rather than thinking of populist movements as an ideology,
populist movements are best understood as a strategy for realigning power.
The Power Pie
Regardless of where populist movements fall on the
left-right political spectrum, they share the perception that power is a
limited resource. When I make my
exceptionally delicious made-from-scratch banana cream pie, the bigger the
piece that you take, the less pie there is for me. In the populist worldview, the same is true
of power. You can only increase your
power—whether political, economic, or social—by taking power away from me. We are, therefore, in a competition for power.
In the populist worldview there are three groups in society competing
for power.
The People
The first group of competitors for power is the People. The People are the true and deserving members
of society. They are seen as essentially
good, moral, noble, and hardworking. The
People embody what the populists believe to be the genuine values of society,
and the People are deserving of the benefits provided by society.
But the People feel exploited, ill-used, and
victimized. Their share of political,
economic, and social power is diminished as other groups in society increase
their power. Populist movements, therefore, originate in
and are shaped by grievances, anger, and resentment and are focused on
reclaiming power for the People.
Not-the-People
The second group of competitors for power is Not-the-People. Not-the-People are interlopers. They are viewed as essentially bad, immoral,
ignoble, lazy, and even criminal. Therefore,
Not-the-People are not deserving of the benefits provided by society. Not-the-People are believed to be destructive
of the genuine values of society. In the populist worldview.
Not-the People, however, are gaining power—and can only gain
power by taking it away from the People.
In the populist worldview, therefore, the People need to reclaim power from Not-the-People and prevent them from achieving power in the
future—and perhaps even physically remove Not-the-People from society.
The Elite
The Elite is the third group competing for power. The Elite make up the “ruling class” in the
broadest sense and possess the lion’s share of political, economic, and social
power. The Elite are elected and appointed
government officials as well as those whose wealth or fame gains them access to
power.
The People experience the Elite as corrupt and greedy,
controlling the government and the economy, all the while enacting policies
that benefit themselves and perpetuate their power. The Elite have no interest in meeting the
needs of the People and are the source of all ills that the People are
suffering. The People therefore need to
“drain the swamp” and reclaim the power that the Elite have appropriated and
abused by replacing them with members of the People who will act in the best
interests of the People.
A Betrayal of the Movement?
Current American politics has a great deal in common with
populist movements, but there is something about current political action that
belies a claim to be furthering a genuine populist agenda.
The goal of populist movement is for The People to reclaim
power and restore The People to greatness and prosperity. This goal is achieved in part by taking power
away from Not-the-People and eliminating the influence that Not-the-People have
had on society. Efforts are clearly
being made to achieve this objective of the populist agenda.
In the populist worldview the goal of reclaiming power and prosperity for the People also requires removing from power the Elite who are responsible for all the ills that plague the People and replacing the Elite with leaders who will act in the best interests of the People. It seems that this second objective may be where the People might feel betrayed. Those who campaigned on a populist agenda and prevailed in the election are purging the old Elite; however, they are replacing the old Elite with a new Elite of the extremely wealthy and the famous. This new Elite appears to be focused primarily on increasing and consolidating their own political, economic, and social power and are taking action to protect and advance their own interests rather than those of the People.
Are the People feeling betrayed? If not, perhaps the impact of this power grab hasn't trickled down yet.
