Ancillary #4: First Thoughts on Populism

While some may argue that populism unites disparate groups and represents the people, I would consider that definition to be superficial. I disagree that populism includes “any impassioned grassroots movement” because I think there is a clear distinction between fighting for your rights and showing discontent toward another group. Specifically, according to CG Researcher, the rise of populism arises from anti-immigration, anti-elite, and anti-establishment sentiments. Populist leaders tend to pit one group against another and take advantage of people’s anger and irrationality to gain popular support. Therefore, I am not convinced that the Black Lives Matter movement can be named an example of a populist movement. With that logic, would the Civil Rights Movement also be categorized as a form of populism?

To me, populism represents danger and revolution because it aggravates polarization. With Donald Trump’s presidency in 2016, the United States heads toward an almost uncontrollable path of division and conflict. Similarly, Bernie Sander’s populist challenge to moderate Democrats has caused splinters within the Democratic Party as well. I have noticed community members who used to be Democrats now doubting their political affiliation for they think that social democracy is too similar to communism. On the subject of communism, I found populism and communism to have very similar attributes, be it anti-establishment, anti-elite, or power for the people. I need to figure out what distinguishes the two ideologies and if they both lead to a revolution led by the mass.

The media plays a key role in spreading the inflammatory message of populism, and people’s distrust in government looms large as people read very opposite sources of information from media outlets. Depending on what you read, your world is entirely different. In my opinion, populism takes reason away and replaces it with self-centered impulse, pushing for people to read what they want to believe. I can not agree more with James Madison’s fear: the public would use passions instead of reason in judgment.

However, Yannis Stavrakakis and Chantal Mouffe’s views on populism have encouraged me to reflect on if I view populism stereotypically. They are right that there are progressive populism projects that I ignored, and I need to do more research to look into those projects.