Member-only story
Populism in 2020
There are two ways to look at campaigns. One is the horse race method, preferred by most of the media. It’s easy and it generates views. It also requires very little understanding of the dynamics underlying any race. It is shallow, and quite frankly it is one reason for the present crisis.
What the media refused to do in 2016, and again it not asking is why populists are gaining traction. Why is it that the middle is still failing to do anything? Or worst, how is this part of a global pattern? And why have the policies of the last generation set the ground for this state of affairs?
The first question that none dares ask is what is populism?
The definition matters.
populism: a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups.
When we speak of present politics, this definition encapsulates it. We are living in a populist moment when the people feel institutions and political parties have failed them. It did not start now or in 2016. One of the early symptoms of this was the Tea Party, I must clarify, early on. They were coopted fairly fast by special interests and used to fight policies that could have helped them. Among those who took…