The Global Rise of Populist Nationalism: a threat or “just a phase”?
Populism can either be found in right or left winged movements, in its most contemporary notion has been associated with conservative forms of government, filled with nostalgia from a simpler, endemic world. It is usually related with a political character that pledges to represent the interests of a long last, forgotten part of society, wronged by the changes brought by a world that does not care about it.
This form of Populism categorizes the arising Populist Nationalism, and it has been gaining considerable strength in politics in the last years.
Even though nationalism always constituted a feature across Europe and the American continent, the flirt with populist nationalist, right wing to far-right political parties in the last years has increased significantly. With characters such as Matteo Salvini, Marine Le Pen and Donald Trump who “allegedly” take part on nationalist fights for citizen’s rights, and try to make their countries “great again” being consecrated as sanctified politicians, it seems like democracy as we know it may be endangered.
The new alliance in the European Parliament, Identity and Democracy — ID, formed exclusively by populist nationalist members represents clearly the concerning change of mentality in the European Bloc. The group draws from nine of the European Union’s 28 member countries, and includes Italy’s Lega Nord, France’s National Rally, Alternative for Germany, Austria’s Freedom Party, the True Finns Party, the Czech Republic’s Freedom and Direct Democracy, the Danish People’s Party, Estonia’s Conservative People’s Party, and Belgium’s Flemish Interest. The interests of the coalition consist in stopping globalists from inside the European Union from achieving more power from member states, and to block what was described as “the undermining of the nation-state” proposing a new European harmony.
But Europe has not been the only target of this political wave.
The situation in the United States does not differ so much from the European one. North-American history has always showed a weak spot for populism, from the 1849’s Know Nothings until the present day the U.S has been marked by populism. But in 2016, the whole world turned its attention to watch Populist Nationalism rise in the country under the slogan “Make America Great Again.” The popularity of millionaire Donald Trump thanks to one of the biggest populist campaigns seen in years guaranteed his election, along with the promise to minimize immigration and take an aggressive path towards a “better”, older country.
All around the American Continent similar electoral campaigns followed U.S’s track. The absurd presence of corruption in Latin American governments favored a widespread discontent with the idea of democracy. The continent is the least satisfied region in the world with democracy, and there is an uncomfortably high level of support in favor of military ruled governments and conservative politicians. As seen in Brazil, with the election of Jair Messias Bolsonaro in 2018, who was in many occasions referred to as “The Donald Trump of Brazil”, and the Mexican leader Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Men whose popularity and idolization opened the path to the Presidential seat even with scandalous political careers, absurdly offensive statements and with no long-term solutions for any socio-economic problems.
The currently arising Populist Nationalist movement is configured by conservative leaders trying to find scapegoats to take the blame for all political disgraces that happened in the years before their arrival in the political scene. The movement is essentially against multiculturalism, cosmopolitanism, and internationalism, and although there are often distinct motives for voting by individuals, they have been bundled together with terribly made-up excuses for sexism, homophobia, racism and xenophobia.
The solutions proposed by populist nationalists to the social problems they face are likely to be self-defeating. Latin America experienced its taste of populism with the presence of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, who, by leaving the country in ruins, created a willingness to sympathize with democracy in other Latin American countries that did not want to follow its example.
So, why did the Western world suddenly decide to recur to this desperate search for aggressive short-term solutions? It was simply the fact that these countries failed to deal with socioeconomic crisis that built up for years, such as the great numbered waves of immigration. It is known that as soon as immigrants began to compete with longtime inhabitants for jobs and social services, they started to be seen as threats to the cultural norm and public safety. As postelection surveys analyzed, concerns about immigration largely encouraged votes favorable to the Brexit referendum, the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and the gains of far-right parties across Europe.
Is democracy at risk?
Scholars have documented a global “democratic recession,” and some now warn that even long-established “consolidated” democracies could lose their commitment to freedom and slip toward politics that are more authoritarian.
A recent study of politics in the wake of financial crises over the past 140 years finds a consistent pattern: majority parties shrink, far-right parties gain ground, polarization and fragmentation intensify, uncertainty rises, and governing becomes more difficult.
A 38-nation Pew Research Center survey finds there are reasons for calm as well as concern when it comes to democracy’s future. More than half in each of the nations polled consider representative democracy a very or somewhat good way to govern their country. Yet, in all countries, pro-democracy attitudes coexist, with openness to nondemocratic forms of governance, including rule by experts, a strong leader or the military.
Even if the populist challenge does directly threaten liberal democracy, it is shown that in countries with strong democratic apparatus the support for representative democracy stands at almost 80%. Democracies as we know now are way stronger than what they were in the years authoritarian governments surpassed them, international agreements, such as NAFTA, and organizations as the United Nations guarantee that.
For now, Populist Nationalism has gained significant support in countries; they do not yet displace a real threat. However, the future of democratic governments in Europe and North America will very much depend on how their political systems adapt to the large amount of changes globalization brings to surface.
Citations
The rise of populist nationalism, Dr. F. Fukuyama, “The future of politics”, 2018
Populism, Munro André, Encyclopædia Britannica, April 10, 2019. Located at https://www.britannica.com/topic/populism
Nationalism, Hans Kohn, Encyclopædia Britannica, February 19, 2019.
Europe and right-wing nationalism: A country-by-country guide, BBC News. Located at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36130006
New national populist EU group ‘Identity and Democracy’ takes shape, Lyon Arthur. Located at https://voiceofeurope.com/2019/06/new-national-populist-eu-group-identity-and-democracy-takes-shape/
Manuel Funke, Moritz Schularick, and Christoph Trebesch, “Going to Extremes: Politics After Financial Crises, 1870–2014,” European Economic Review 88 (September 2016): 227–60.
Richard Wike et al., “Globally, Broad Support for Representative and Direct Democracy,” 16 October 2017. Located at www.pewglobal.org/2017/10/16/globally-broad-support-for-representative-and-direct-democracy.
Populism in the United States: A Timeline, HISTORY, August 6, 2019. Located at https://www.history.com/topics/us-politics/populism-united-states-timeline
Populism in Latin America, Joseph Tawney, January 12, 2019.
