Populism
175
Although populists treat the elite as a single, unified entity, three elements within the elite are often singled out for particular criticism. These are the political elite, the economic elite and the cultural elite. The most prominent of these, the political elite, comprises key figures in mainstream party politics (the ‘political class’) and senior political office holders (presidents, prime ministers, prominent ministers, top civil servants, judges and the like). Its purpose is to harness political power to the interests of the wider elite, and, in the process, distance the people from the levers of governmental control. The economic elite, consisting, most significantly, of big business and banks, both supports and works in conjunction with the political elite. In this way, politics and wealth are bound closely together. The cultural elite, and especially ‘establishment’ media outlets such as the BBC, The New York Times, Le Monde and la Repubblica (often seen as the ‘metropolitan’ media elite) , are routinely accused by populists of propagating elite (and invariably ‘liberal’) values. However, by no means do populists assume that factors such as institutional position, wealth or social standing always shape people’s values and viewpoints. Inconsistencies are common and often striking. For example, Viktor Orban has retained his populist credentials despite being Hungary’s longest serving prime minister; Donald Trump’s lavish lifestyle and vast business empire did not prevent him from attracting significant support in 2016 in particular from less-prosperous voters in the so-called Rust Belt states; and the US media conglomerate Fox News, together with many tabloid newspapers and most ‘shock jock’ radio presenters articulate strongly anti-establishment views. An additional aspect of elite power, according to many populists, is that it is exercised through practices that are somehow deceitful or ‘shady’. This reflects the elite’s ability to manipulate understanding, concealing its true (oppressive) purposes. Populists accuse the elite of inauthenticity or fakery of various kinds, whether this is through their supposed dissemination of ‘fake news’ (that is, flagrant lying by any other standard), or the workings of ‘fake esquires’, ‘fake courts’, ‘fake parliaments’ and so forth. In presenting the distinction between the people and the elite as one between authenticity and fakery, populists have indulged in the blanket condemnation of elite ideas and beliefs, not uncommonly supported by conspiracy theories of one kind or another. Examples of such theories include that the Covid-19 pandemic was caused by the roll-out of the 5Gmobile phone network and that the 2020 US presidential election was ‘stolen’ from Trump by fraud.
Populist democracy Its relationship to democracy is key to grasping the nature of populism, but this is an issue that is both complex and contested. On the one hand, populism has been portrayed as an essentially democratic force, based on the claim that, in common with democracy, populism endorses the principles of popular sovereignty and majority rule. Some, indeed, argue that populism operates as a corrective to democracy, insofar as it gives a voice to people or groups who feel that they are marginalized or ignored within the existing democratic process. Populists, therefore, commonly proclaim that the established democratic system is failing to live up to the democratic ideal. On the other hand, populism has been portrayed as a threat to democracy, even as a pathological political phenomenon. In this view, not only are populists at best bogus democrats, practised in the arts of demagoguery , but, by endorsing plebiscitary forms of democracy (see p. 176), they are also at odds with all forms of representative politics.
Conspiracy theory: A theory that places a central (and undue) emphasis on the role of sinister forces, clandestine maneuverings and secret plans. Popular sovereignty: The principle that there is no higher authority than the will of the people, directly expressed. Demagoguery: The rule of political leaders who manipulate the masses through inflammatory oratory that exploits their prejudices and/or ignorance.
Powered by FlippingBook