Is Populism Supporting Democracy? Or Does it Undermine Democracy?
In the modern world, populism is prevalent especially in the United States political realm. The ideas of populism are so simple, yet so broad because it can come in different forms and is not associated with one specific political party. It was used by Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election, and again by Bernie Sanders during the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. However, populism is not only found in the United States, it can also be found in the United Kingdom through the idea of BREXIT. With this, some may claim that populism enforces democracy because it brings people together for a cause, whereas I would argue that populism actually undermines what democracy is meant to be, because of how people are so inclined into following those who eloquently speak their view on certain subjects without doing their own research and being skeptical about the information they are given.
Before we begin, I have to define what populism is so that you know what I’m talking about. So, populism is an idea where it can be applied to pretty much any subject. It’s an idea where people have that they are representing a majority in which they would call the “people” or the “us” and they are against a group of elites, or the minority which are called the “elites” or the “them”. In other words, the idea of populism brings together a niche group of people for a single cause because they want to change the status quo so that it can benefit the majority. In their eyes, the “elites” are having the time of their lives in expense of the “people’s” time and efforts. As a result, the “people” are now united to change said status quo through the means of a democratic vote.
Now that you know what populism is, I have to move onto the definition of what democracy means. When people hear the word “democracy” most would think about the quantity of people and voting. This is a correct interpretation of what democracy is, however it is a very shallow definition. What I believe democracy was meant to be, is the idea that people would form their own ideologies through extensive research, skepticism about information they hear from untrusted AND somewhat trustful resources, and understanding how to prevent oneself from being swayed by misinformation. Democracy, in its ideal form, is about the people being well-educated in certain subjects so that they can decide what is best for them AND others around them. It is not about people being blindly believing in misinformation, believing in conspiracy theories that may seem factual but are not after extensive research, and believing in people who claim to know something that the “elites” don’t want anyone else to know without being skeptical. All of the things that I have said may seem pretty straight-forward, but the misinformation that spreads is quite intriguing and pulls you in quickly. As a result, people are quick to choose the side that either easily sways them through words and rhetoric, or through research and accurate interpretation of information.
Populism is quick to make people associate in either side, the “people’s” side or the “elite’s” side. If you do not choose the “people’s” side, then you are immediately branded as someone who supports the “elite”. To make you better understand what I am saying, I shall include two examples of what I mean. On the left wing, populism typically is used in the subject of the wealth gap, as seen by Bernie Sanders in 2020. His goal is to decrease the wealth gap between the “people” and the “elite” by increasing the taxes against the “elite,” or the top 1% of people who own the majority of the wealth in the U.S. This creates a mentality that a very small portion of the population owns a majority of the wealth, and thus the “people” have to come together and break this status quo against the “elite” so that life can be fairer and finances can become less stressful. Whereas, the right wing wants to limit the jobs that Americans lost to immigrants. To them, the American people are the “people” while the immigrants are the “them” side. They want jobs to prioritize Americans because they are the ones who have been paying taxes and should be given priority over an immigrant. As you can see, populism is an effective way to bring people closer together to vote for a singular cause.
The reasoning to why populism brings people together so well is due to the fact that the idea in question belongs to the decision of the people. It should be their idea that is implemented rather than what is occurring at the moment, because it is their idea that is correct. They want to end some sort of corruption or inequality in the system by democratically voting for a candidate that supports their idea. If a leader like a candidate band a whole group of people together by attacking a common enemy, the candidate will have a much higher chance of being elected as president. The people know this, and as a result are more inclined into siding with a candidate who uses populism as a means to reach an ends. Additionally, populism is also popular because it can be used to bring to light problems that should be and needs to be addressed. Something like socio-economic inequality should be addressed because typically minorities are on the lower end of this status, and thus are more likely to resort to crime. This inequality was implemented deliberately by those in power long ago, and the “people” should band together to change this system so that everyone can live better lives. However, populism does not only come with benefits, but with its dangers as well.
As you know, populism puts you on one side of a spectrum with very little room in siding with the other. However, this is exactly the problem with populism and why it is so dangerous, it prevents people from looking at the other side’s argument and “tunnel visioning” rather than seeing the “bigger picture”. Once someone chooses a side, they are more inclined to stick with the ideas of that side without doing much research on other topics because they are already comfortable with associating with their side, the left or the right. For example, on the topic of jobs belonging to Americans, populism will lead to people alienating the minority, and thus result in ethno-nationalism where Americans should be of a certain race rather than be diverse. This is a problem because it promotes violent ideas such as White Supremacy and racism. Then, another question arises, “how do we counter this?”.
To go against populism, you have the obligation to do your own research and understand a topic so that you can determine what is best for the country. Your needs should be accounted for, but it should not be so unfair that it hurts those who are struggling more than it hurts you. Next, you should learn how to differentiate from misinformation, and information that is skewed to support someone’s words. By understanding and being skeptical of possible misinformation and skewed information will allow you to better decide rather than blindly listening to what is being said. Lastly, vote for the people whose ideas are in line with yours after having done extensive research.
Overall, populism does bring into light problems that needs to be addressed, but at the same time it prevents a person from constructing their own ideas and supporting said ideas, and allows them to choose a side based on arguments that seems indisputable.
