Populism: definition and theoretical approaches POLb1111 Populism and political parties Aims of the lecture • •Explain the core features of populism as a distinctive concept • • •Briefly introduce different approaches to the study of populism • • •Define different types of populism • • • • • 2 The main thesis is that… • • •…populism is like arancini. • • 3 Adobe Systems 4 Problems with populism Canovan (1999): ‘contested concept’ Stanley (2008): vague term retaining an ‘awkward conceptual slipperiness’ Taggart (2000): ‘chameleonic nature’ Problems with populism •- Popular perception of populism (unrealistic promises, irresponsible policies, demagoguery, spending, socialist policies, xenophobia…) • • •- Negative political label • • •- Terminological mess: protest parties, challenger parties, anti-party parties, anti-mainstream parties, anti-political establishment parties, anti-establishment reform parties, discontent parties, neopopulism/ new populism, anti-corruption parties, national populist parties… - 5 Popular perception of populism •Stretching of the term • •All politicians are populists (from time to time) • •Content – unrealistic promises, irresponsible policies, demagoguery, spending, socialist policies, xenophobia… • •See Bale, Taggart, van Kessel. 2011: “Thrown around with abandon? Popular understandings of populism as conveyed by the print media: a UK case study.” Acta Politica 46 (2). •Populism as a label in political fight • 6 Three waves of populism •Empirical diversity of populism (Pauwels 2014) • •19th century populism – the People`s Party in the USA, „narodniky“ in Russia (Canovan 1981, Taggart 2000) • •Latin American populism – Peron, Chávez, De la Torre… • •New populism – radical right-wing or radical left parties in Europe •(+ exclusively/centrist populist parties) • •Case driven definitions (agrarian populism until the 1970s, RRP in Western Europe) • • 7 POPULISM AS AN IDEOLOGY •Ideology: • •total, closed and cohesive view of human beings in society / a systematic body of concepts / a comprehensive normative vision / the integrated assertions, theories and aims that constitute a sociopolitical program • •Is populism an ideology? • •Populism is usually not regarded as a full-blown ideology (such as socialism, liberalism etc.) 8 POPULISM AS A THIN-CENTERED IDEOLOGY •Cas Mudde (2004, 2007): •“populism as an ideology that considers society to be ultimately separated into two homogeneous and antagonistic groups, ‘the pure people’ versus ‘the corrupt elite’, and which argues that politics should be an expression of the volonté générale (general will) of the people” • •thin-centered ideology – does not cover all aspects of life, only specific political questions •can be combined with other thin-centered of full blown ideologies – ‘a receptive partner for full ideologies’ (Stanley 2008), ‘colourless’(Jagers, Walgrave, 2007) – East-Central European experience, M5S •Stanley, B. (2008). „The thin ideology of populism.“ Journal of Political Ideologies, 13(1), 95-110. • 9 ANALYTICAL CORE OF POPULISM •Deconstruction of the definition (Rooduijn 2016, see also Deiwiks 2009, Stanley 2008, Muller 2016): •Muller (2016): moralistic imagination of politics • 1.The people as a homogeneous group – the people and the elite 2. 2.Denigration of the elites 3. 3.The antagonistic relationship between the elites and the people 4. 4.The idea of (restoration) of popular sovereignty • 10 Adobe Systems ̶ Political elites People Populists THE ‘ PURE PEOPLE’ AS A HOMOGENEOUS GROUP •Crucial importance for populism • •Refusal of division of society into different groups (antipluralist – next lecture) • •How is the people defined – an empty signifier? • •Purity as the most single important characteristic of the people • •Taggart: heartland, idealized conception of the community 12 Class task!!! •Imagine you are a populist leader coming from: • a)The United States b)Italy c)Poland d)Czech Republic e)The United Kingdom 13 •How would you define the „pure people“ or a member of your heartland? 14 1 bonus point! (5 minutes to complete the task) 15 THE ‘ PURE PEOPLE’ AS A HOMOGENEOUS GROUP •Culturally/politically determined content of the “people” • •As the sovereign – demos, against principles of liberal and representative democracy • •As a nation – ethnos, populism = nationalism (?), vs. foreigners, immigrants etc. • •As a class – ‘working people’, the ‘99 per cent’ vs. ‘the rich’, the ‘1 per cent’, exploitation the lower class • •BUT related to the host ideology (see later) • 16 Adobe Systems 17 Political elites People Populists DENIGRATION OF THE ELITES •Establishment/elites as a collective, monolithic entity •Criticism targeting all the established actors • •Political parties, businessmen, ‘the rich’, oligarchy, the ‘1 per cent’, ‘champaigne/drinkers’, “latte-drinking, sushi-eating, Volvo-driving, New York Times-reading, Hollywood-loving” liberal elites … •Particular interests which are in opposition to the interests of the people •Sabotaging the interests and democratic rights of the people •Beyond the usual opposition • 18 Class task!!! •Imagine you are a populist leader coming from: • a)The United States b)Italy c)Poland d)Czech Republic e)The United Kingdom 19 •How would you define the elites (and why)? 20 1 bonus point! (5 minutes to complete the task) 21 Adobe Systems 22 Political elites People Populists Adobe Systems 23 Political elites People Populists Adobe Systems 24 Political elites People Populists THE ANTAGONISTIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PEOPLE AND THE ELITE •Manichaean view (moral dimension, normative outlook) •The good (‘pure’) people and the bad elite •People betrayed by the corrupt elite •Alienation of the elite, people exploited by the elite •P. speak in the name of the ‘oppressed people’ •The chief social divide between the governing and the governed – denial of the old cleavages •Aggresive and/or mocking rhetoric (‘political class’, ‘dinosaurs’, ‘robber barons’, ‘thieves’, ‘oligarchy’, ‘godfathers’…) •Emphasis on the proclaimed crisis (elites blamed for it) - political, cultural, social, economic • • 25 Adobe Systems 26 Political elites People Populists THE IDEA OF POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY • •Sovereignty taken away from the people by the elite - against the representative democracy (next lecture) •Often proponents of direct democracy (not a defining characteristic of p.) •Renewal of the ‘distorted’ relationship between the elites and the people •People are fully formed and self-aware (no need for incompetent political elites) •‘common sense’ as the leading principle (‘votes for us are votes for common sense’ – R. John (VV)) •All representatives have to do is to listen to the vox populi • • 27 Adobe Systems 28 Political elites People Populists Adobe Systems 29 Types of populism ̶ Adobe Systems 30 ̶thin-centered ideology (Freeden 1996) ̶Goes together with other thin-centered of full blown ideologies: ̶ ̶Populist radical right (Lega, National Rally, Bolsonaro) ̶Populist radical left (Podemos, Syriza) ̶Centrist populist parties (ANO, M5S) ̶ Typology of populism (based on Pauwels 2014; Havlík, Stanley 2015; modified) Social populism Radical right-wing populism Neoliberal populism Non-ideological populism Construction of the people Working class, the opressed, 99%, the exploited (Pure) nation, ethnos Hard-working taxpayers, entrepreneurs Ordinary people, citizens Depiction of the elites/enemies Capitalists, imperialists, bankers, exploiters Immigrants, foreigners, multiculturalism, feminism Bureaucratic elites/states, interventionist state Corrupt incompetent politicians Host ideology Socialism Nativism Economic liberalism Not clear Examples PDS, Syriza, SP NF, VB, Ataka LPF, ALP, ANO (SVK) ANO (CZ), NDSV, M5S 31 Populism and democracy Main questions • •What is the relationship of populism and democracy? • • •Is populism dangerous to democracy? • • • Outline 1. 1.The two faces of democracy 2. 2.Populism – threat or corrective to democracy? 3. • • •What is democracy? Democracy •Popular sovereignty • •Majority rule • •Schumpeter (1949: 250): ‘institutional arrangement for arriving at political decisions in which individuals acquire the power to decide by means of a competitive struggle for the people’s vote’; representative democracy, a method of selection of rulers, free and fair elections Populism • •“populism as a thin-centered ideology that considers society to be ultimately separated into two homogeneous and antagonistic groups, ‘the pure people’ versus ‘the corrupt elite’, and which argues that politics should be an expression of the volonté générale (general will) of the people” (Mudde, 2007) • •Populism supports popular sovereignty and majority rule • • • • Populism and democracy - discussion • •Why so much discussion on the relationship between populism and democracy? • •Is populism dangerous to democracy? Why? • • • • Democracy •Popular sovereignty •Majority rule • •Schumpeter (1949: 250): ‘institutional arrangement for arriving at political decisions in which individuals acquire the power to decide by means of a competitive struggle for the people’s vote’; representative democracy, a method of selection of rulers, free and fair elections • •Most contemporary democracies are liberal (vs. procedural approach to democracy) • • • • •What makes a democracy to be a liberal one? Key features of liberal democracy •Free and fair elections •Popular sovereignty •Majority rule • •+ • •Checks and balances and the constitutional protection of minority rights • • • • • • Two faces of democracy • 42 Two faces of democracy •Canovan (1999) – two faces of democracy: • Redemptive face – ‘salvation through politics’, direct exercise of power • Pragmatic face – ‘ballots, not bullets’, a way of peaceful resolution of conflicts, a form of government, and institutions and rules •C. Mouffe – a liberal/constitutional pillar & democratic pillar •Ideal of democracy vs. Real functioning – permanent internal tension between the two faces of democracy • •Populist appeal refers (only) to the redemptive face of democracy vs. principles of liberal democracy • • • Democratic tension as a breeding ground for populism •„A broad tendency that is always latent to some degree in modern democracies“ (Plattner, 2010) • •„If it becomes clear that those involved see in democracy nothing but horsetrading, they, and eventually the system itself, are liable to lose their legitimacy. When too great a gap opens up between haloed democracy and the grubby business of politics, populists tend to move on to the vacant territory, promising in place of the dirty world of party monoevring the shining ideal of democracy renewed.“ (Canovan 1999: 11). • •Populism as a ‘shadow of democracy’, democracy/political crisis as a (possible explanation of the rise of populism x different kind of populisms) • Populism as a threat to democracy I. •Democracy seen by populist only as the ‘power of the people’ – reductionist definition of democracy (Mény, Surel, 2002) •‘democratic illiberalism’ (Pappas, 2012) •‘pure populist democracy vs. the practice of constitutional democracy’ (Abts, Rummens, 2007) •‘little patience with liberalism`s emphasis on procedural niceties and protections for individual rights’ (Plattner, 2010) • •Populism is not against democracy per se, but against the principles of liberal democracy Populism as a threat to democracy II. •Negative effects on different aspects of democracy: • 1.Position of individuals and social groups •Rejection of the unified-in-diversity vision of society •Circumvention of minority rights in the name of majority rule/majority rights •Ignorance of constitutional guarantees for the individual rights of citizens •Attitudes to NGOs, media, academia •Pluralism at stake with populism • Populism as a threat to democracy III. •2. Institutions and rules of liberal democracy •System of ‘checks and balances’, a complex model of bargaining, compromises in contrast with populist vision of democracy •Delegitimization of institutions necessary for ‘good governance’ •‘Solutions’: •By-passing of representative principles of liberal democracy by promotion of elements of direct democracy •Limitation of separaration of powers, weakening of ‘pluralist’ institutions (parliaments, opposition rights, discussion, constitutional courts…) •Delegimisation of elected bodies, replacing by ‘non-political’ principles •Effectivity instead of procedural checks • • • Populism as a threat to democracy IV. •3. Effectiveness of political processes •Indirect effect related mostly to democracy support •Limited coalition potential of populist parties – formation of ideologically non-connected coalitions (a new political cleavage - Greece) – convergence of political space – growing dissatisfaction with democracy (lack of representativeness) •Formation of ‘populist democracies’ (Pappas) – reaction to success of populist rhetoric, populist inflation •Populists in government – ‘mainstreamization’, lack of trust, ‘spiral of discontent’ – clash of a programme of redemptive democracy and the practice of pragmatic democracy •Drop of legitimity of standard institutions of liberal democracy (intentional delegimisation – framing and cueing) • Populism as a corrective to democracy •Populist success as a litmus paper of pragmatism of democracy •Corrective function of populism (Mudde, Rovira Kaltwasser, 2012) •Mostly related to the inclusionist face of populism: 1.Representation of ‘silent majority’ 2.Mobilization and representation of excluded sections of population (issues important for this part of society but neglected by political representation) 3.Increase of democratic accountability – new issues in the political agenda 4.‘Democratisation of democracy’ – related to mobilization, revitalization/intensification of political conflicts 5. • • Conclusion •Populism based on basic principles of democracy (the essence of populism is democratic) •Different faces of democracy: idea/practice of democracy – liberal democracy •Three faces of populism: 1.Latent and permanent danger to liberal democracy 2.Possible corrective to liberal democracy 3.Litmus paper of functioning of democracy (demand) •Empirical investigation needed, case studies (presentations?) Thank you for your attention. 51