Populism: A Beginner's Guide

by Simon Tormey

Overview

Every day we hear that the rise of populism threatens democracy around the world, but is this really true? Did populism cause the current crisis, or is it the other way around?

To understand the state of our politics right now, we must get to grips with this contested concept.

Simon Tormey breaks down the defining aspects of populism, what sets it apart from other styles of politics, and what – if anything – we ought to do about it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781786076137
Publisher:	Oneworld Publications
Publication date:	08/13/2019
Series:	Beginner's Guides
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Simon Tormey is Professor of Politics and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law at the University of Bristol. The author of many books and articles on contemporary politics, he regularly appears in broadcast and print media commenting on British and European politics.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction - why populism? 1

2016-the populism 'explosion' 1

Populism panic 6

2 What is populism? (and why does it seem so difficult to define?) 9

The Russian Narodniks 12

The farmers' parties of the United States of America 14

Latin American caudillismo 16

'The people' versus 'the elites' 18

Never let a good crisis go to waste 21

Redemptive versus humdrum politics 23

Take me to your leader 25

Incivility as a weapon of politics 29

Problems with populism - ahistorical and descriptive? 33

Indifferent to beliefs and values? 35

An alibi for the performance of elites? 37

3 Why now? Explaining the populist insurgency 41

Populism and economic grievance 43

Populism and cultural grievance 48

Economic versus cultural grievance 55

The populism puzzle 57

Populism and 'democratic grievance' 59

Decadence and the decline of the political class 62

The rise of the citizen consumer 65

4 Is populism a threat to democracy? 72

Populism and the threat to democracy 73

Pluralism versus monism 73

Redemption versus problem-solving 77

Modernity versus feudalism 78

Populism and democratic renewal 82

Politics as the struggle for 'hegemony' 84

From stability to crisis 86

Democracy after populism 88

A tale of two populisms 91

5 Is populism a variety of 'post-truth polities'? 101

The truth about post-truth 102

Are post-modernism and relativism to blame? 105

Is expert knowledge dead? 108

Has the Internet made it more difficult to separate fact from fiction? 111

Truth, lies and politics: what's new? 114

Manipulating data, images and the historical record: a sordid past 118

'Post-truth' or unfashionable views? 121

6 Conclusion - what is to be done about populism? 126

Invoking 'the people' is not populist 129

Populism is not a variety of far-right politics 133

Populism is not an ideology 136

Populism is not anti-democratic 139

Populism does not threaten pluralism 142

Populism is not the cause of the crisis 145

What is to be done about populism? 149

Acknowledgements 154

Further reading 156

Index 158

Editorial Reviews

‘An important dissenting voice in today’s chorus of populist critics, Tormey casts populism in a new light, inviting readers to consider whether it might not be a threat to democracy but rather something democracy needs for its renewal.’

Lisa Disch

‘While we all think we know what populism means, if we dig a little deeper we find ourselves lost in definitional problems and ambiguities... Tormey navigates through these...with admirable clarity and perception, drawing upon historical and contemporary examples of populist movements, and exploring key factors that explain their rise.’

Saul Newman

‘The world is changing. Democracy is under threat. Simon Tormey’s Populism: A Beginner’s Guide provides a wonderfully sophisticated yet beautifully accessible guide to these changing times.’

Matthew Flinders

‘In this provocative, well-written new book, Tormey argues that populism can be both a threat to democratic values and process, but equally a means for the expansion of democracy... Essential reading for those seeking to understand one of the most important, but often misunderstood, political phenomena of the twenty-first century.’

Duncan McDonnell