A Betrayal of Populism? The Revenge of Power

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)

Populism has no consistent overarching, persistent political philosophy—and is more accurately conceived as distinct populist movements.  Populist movements are essentially reactive.  When political, economic, and social power are seen as favoring the left on the political spectrum, populist movements emerge that tend to the right; when political, economic, and social power are seen as tending to the right, populist movements emerge that tend to the left. 

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.

Planning Ahead - Politics of Grievance

The term populism originated in the USA in the late 19th century.  Populist-like movements, however, have existed in many eras in many places, and today populist movements with their politics of grievance exist in almost every democracy in the world.   

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. Instead, populism is best understood as a strategy for gaining and wielding power.” …[P]opulists portray a political reality neatly cleft into two:  corrupt, greedy elite versus the noble and pure—but betrayed and aggrieved—Volk, the people. All the people’s problems stem from the decisions—often conspiratorial, always corrupt—of a venal elite. …Populist leaders portray themselves as embodying the will of the people and championing their cause against the corrupt elite.  (The Revenge of Power by Moisés Naím)

Populist movements don’t fit easily into the left-wing/right-wing model—some movements are clearly left-wing, some right-wing, and some have elements of both—because populist movements are essentially reactive to the perceived political reality and grievance of “the People.”  

Politics of Grievance takes a thought-provoking journey to populism in the USA through the complexity of power dynamics and grievances in Western religious, intellectual and political development.  

Addicted to "Truth" - Early Christians wrestled with one another over what constituted true belief, and over time the winners of those contests defined Christian orthodoxy—and over time gained the religious-political power to enforce orthodoxy and control Europe’s political and intellectual life. 

Recommended Reading:  Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew (Bart D. Ehrman)

16th Century Grievances:  Protestant Reformers - The grievances of Martin Luther, John Calvin and others ended the religious, political and intellectual monopoly of the Roman Catholic Church

 Recommended Reading:  Luther’s Fortress:  Martin Luther and His Reformation Under Siege (James Reston, Jr.) 

Rene Descartes (1596 – 1650)

17th Century Grievances:  The Enlightenment - The Protestant Reformers were not advocates of religious freedom, equal rights or separation of church and state, but their break with Rome opened the door for intellectual freedom that led to the Age of Enlightenment, the philosophical movement based upon evidence of the senses, science and reason rather than faith and revelation.  Their grievances dominated and reshaped Western thought and politics in the 17th and 18th century.

Recommended Reading:  Descartes' Bones: A Skeletal History of the Conflict between Faith and Reason (Russell Shorto)

18th Century Grievances: The Enlightenment and America's Founders - Enlightenment philosophy fueled America's founders' grievances with British rule and shaped their thinking on government, democracy, human equality, rights and self-determination.

Recommended Reading:  Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution (Woody Holton)

19th Century Grievances:  Populism in the United States - Americans of the Jacksonian Era demanded that government be taken out of the exclusive hands of "the Elite" and greater power given to "the People."  In the early 1830s, however, Alexis de Tocqueville expressed his concern that the populism he observed in his travels through America during Andrew Jackson's presidency would erode American's foundational ideals of equality and human rights, creating a new form of tyranny and despotism.

Recommended Reading:  The Revenge of Power: How Autocrats Are Reinventing Politics for the 21st Century (Moisés Naím)

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