Read the full essay here.
Is populism bad for democracy? This essay, which draws on the authors’ surveys (from Britain, France, Germany, and the U.S.), shows two competing populist tendencies in public opinion: one rooted in political failure and one based on economic unfairness. The political-failure dimension is associated with negative views toward minorities and is hostile to pluralism. By contrast, the economic-unfairness dimension is associated with positive views toward minorities and is hostile to billionaires and large corporations. The authors call this dimension “good populism,” because of its pro-pluralist character. The essay explores why political parties have largely neglected this latent potential of populism.
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