Few terms have had as sudden a resurgence in recent years as populism. It is used daily to describe a phenomenon visiting the developed world, as political leaders such as Donald Trump in the U.S., Nigel Farage in Britain, Marine Le Pen in France and the comedian Beppe Grillo in […] Read more »
How the Internet Threatens Democracy
As the forces of reaction outpace movements predicated on the ideal of progress, and as traditional norms of political competition are tossed aside, it’s clear that the internet and social media have succeeded in doing what many feared and some hoped they would. They have disrupted and destroyed institutional constraints […] Read more »
What Is a Populist? And is Donald Trump one?
Why does Donald Trump exaggerate the size of his inauguration crowd, brag about his election win in conversations with world leaders, and claim without evidence that voter fraud may have cost him the popular vote? Why does he dismiss protesters who oppose him as “paid professionals” and polls that reflect […] Read more »
Why Aren’t Rural Canadians in Favor of Trump?
… Since environmental regulations gutted Change Islands’ fishing industry in the early ’90s, unemployment has skyrocketed. As a result, its local young population is moving away in search of a better future. If Change Islands were in the United States, it would likely be caught up in the populist wave […] Read more »
Apocalypse Now: What’s Behind the Volatile Mood of Today’s American — and European — Voters
AGE OF ANGER A History of the Present By Pankaj Mishra Across the world, a spirit of anarchy is in bloom — an aimless desire to smash the liberal order, with only the distant, inchoate hope that a better world will emerge from the wreckage. That spirit apparently motivated many […] Read more »
The Peculiar Populism of Donald Trump
All wars have unintended consequences, including culture wars. … In an article to be published in the June issue of Perspectives on Politics, “Trump and the Xenophobic Populist Parties: The Silent Revolution in Reverse,” Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris put their case in blunt terms: “Postmaterialism,” they write, “eventually became […] Read more »