Populism is the ideological appeal to the many against the few in power. The majority feels disenfranchised, and suspicious of those in power. Populism is executed by demagogues across the political spectrum– from Donald Trump to Bernie Sanders.
Given that human attitudes have gotten more progressive over the years, I found it counterintuitive to see the region-agnostic rise of nativist, authoritarian populism in the past decade. Trump in USA, Modi in India, and Marine La Pen in France epitomise this.
A theory attributes populism’s resurfacing to the digital revolution, precarious economies, and the threatening insecurity of the future1. The insecurity is fuelled by conspiracy, and demonisation of the other.
A more influential theory deems populism to be a search for meaning in a globalised world. Sped by rapid, sharp technological advances, this world is emerging in an anarchic, tumultuous fashion, leaving us with a feeling that we are in the grips of something we don’t control.
Many feel that these advances are too fast, the world is passing them by. Their identity is undermined by these changes, making them crave the olden, stabler times.
In the West, mostly felt by older White people, this identity crisis makes them question if they are surrounded by people with the same values. It makes them want to go back to the time where more people looked and sounded like them.
Populists feel increasingly powerless– to control the borders, to stop the flow of illegal immigrants, to reduce unemployment, to prevent off-shoring and tax avoidance, and to react to terrorist threats2.
A third theory blames hyper-globalisation for the populism. This led to rapid developments in India and China, but backlashes in the West. Middle class incomes stagnated, and many of the working class lost their jobs to cheaper labour abroad.
Industrial automation, immigration, and cheap imported goods took away potential money from the working class, and contributed to wealth inequality.
Some suggest that in addition to globalisation, broken economic governance is to be blamed for populism. This “neoliberalism” was characterised by globalisation, abandonment of full employment as a desirable policy goal and its replacement with inflation targeting, a focus at the firm level on shareholder value maximisation rather than reinvestment and growth, and the pursuit of flexible labour markets and the disruption of trade unions and workers’ organisations3.
This neoliberalist order led to lower growth rates, and widened income inequality. Its negative impacts were exacerbated by the 2008 economic crisis. Populism emerged as a reaction to this.
References:
1. Moses Naim, ‘How to be a Populist’
2. Michael Cox, ‘Understanding the global rise of Populism’
3. James Montier & Philip Pilkington, ‘The deep causes of secular stagnations and the rise of populism’