Populism in the United States

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Part of the Politics series
Populism
Variants
Ideologies
Concepts
Politicians
History
By region
Related topics
icon Politics portal

Populism in the United States reaches back to the presidency of Andrew Jackson in the 1830s and to the People's Party in the 1890s. It has made a resurgence in 2010s–2020s politics in not only the United States but also democracies around the world.[1][2] Populism is an approach to politics which views "the people" as being opposed to "the elite" and is often used as a synonym of anti-establishment; as an ideology, it transcends the typical divisions of left and right and has become more prevalent in the United States with the rise of disenfranchisement and apathy toward the establishment.[3] The definition of populism is a complex one as due to its mercurial nature; it has been defined by many different scholars with different focuses, including political, economic, social, and discursive features.[4] Populism is often split into two variants in the United States, one with a focus on culture and the other that focuses on economics.[5]

Overview

A division of American populism into two strains has been suggested: one being an economic form of populism opposed to financial elites, and the other being a cultural populism opposed to intellectual elitism.[6] The economic strain is claimed to have a longer history, including the likes of Andrew Jackson and William Jennings Bryan, while cultural populism is recognized as starting in the 1960s with George Wallace;[6] however, the early 21st-century rise of populism on both sides of the political spectrum has been said to have stemmed from voter apathy with the current governmental system and those running it, and subsequently populist politics are said to play a constitutive role in political realignments, in which moral boundaries between groups are redrawn and categories of "us" and "them" emerge.[7][8]

Populism has risen the early 21st century; however, the focus is no longer on the general population protesting against the elites, which was historically the case with populism,[9] but rather on more political polarization, whereby a simple majority is the goal of politicians and thus leads to the "tyranny of the majority" in which they do not focus on appeasing opposing politics but reinforcing their own base.[10][11] The political scientist Benjamin Moffitt argues that modern-day populists, such as Donald Trump, garner support by radically simplifying the terms of the crises and discussing them in terms of emergency politics, whilst offering a short-term response—appealing to the general public and setting such populists apart from the establishment.[12]

Populists in American politics

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was the president from 1829 to 1837 and at the time was called the "People's President".[13] His presidency was characterized by an opposition to institutions, disestablishing the Second Bank of the United States (a central bank), and disregarding the Supreme Court of the United States.[14] Jackson argued that "It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes."[6]

The People's Party and William Jennings Bryan

Main article: People's Party (United States)

The People's Party, also known as the Populist Party or simply the Populists, was a

1892 U.S. elections. The Ocala Demands laid out the Populist platform: collective bargaining, federal regulation of railroad rates, an expansionary monetary policy, and a Sub-Treasury Plan that required the establishment of federally controlled warehouses to aid farmers. Other Populist-endorsed measures included bimetallism, a graduated income tax, direct election of Senators, a shorter workweek, and the establishment of a postal savings system
. These measures were collectively designed to curb the influence of monopolistic corporate and financial interests and empower small businesses, farmers and laborers.

In the

1892 U.S. presidential election, the Populist ticket of James B. Weaver and James G. Field won 8.5% of the popular vote and carried four small Western states. Despite the support of labor organizers like Eugene V. Debs and Terence V. Powderly, the party largely failed to win the vote of urban laborers in the Midwest and the Northeast. Over the next four years, the party continued to run state and federal candidates, building up powerful organizations in several Southern and Western states. Before the 1896 presidential election, the Populists became increasingly polarized between "fusionists", who wanted to nominate a joint presidential ticket with the Democratic Party, and "mid-roaders", like Mary Elizabeth Lease, who favored the continuation of the Populists as an independent third party. After the 1896 Democratic National Convention nominated Bryan, a prominent bimetallist, the Populists also nominated Bryan but rejected the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in favor of party leader Thomas E. Watson. In the 1896 election, Bryan swept the South and West but lost to Republican William McKinley
by a decisive margin. After the 1896 presidential election, the Populist Party suffered a nationwide collapse. The party nominated presidential candidates in the three presidential elections after 1896 but none came close to matching Weaver's performance in 1892. Former Populists became inactive or joined other parties. Debs became a socialist leader. Bryan dropped any connection to the rump Populist Party.

Historians see the Populists as a reaction to the power of corporate interests in the

left-wing movements; beginning in the 1950s, it began to take on a more generic meaning, describing any anti-establishment movement regardless of its position on the left–right political spectrum.[17] According to Gene Clanton's study of Kansas from 1880s to 1910s, populism and Progressivism in Kansas had similarities but different policies and distinct bases of support. Both opposed corruption and trusts. Populism emerged earlier and came out of the farm community. It was radically egalitarian in favor of the disadvantaged classes; it was weak in the towns and cities except in labor unions. On the other hand, Progressivism was a later movement. It emerged after the 1890s from the urban business and professional communities. Most of its activists had opposed populism. It was elitist and emphasized education and expertise. Its goals were to enhance efficiency, reduce waste, and enlarge the opportunities for upward social mobility; however, some former Populists changed their emphasis after 1900 and supported progressive reforms.[18]

Huey Long

1936 U.S. presidential election, he was assassinated.[22] The initiative aimed to end the depression by ‘breaking the power of the rich’. This set out by Long, intended to limit the wealth of individuals through taxation whilst providing a ‘homestead’ (financial aid) to people to climb up the economic ladder.[23]
No clear plan was made to enforce and institutionalise these proposed changes which led to the plans ultimate fail. Long’s charisma and ability in his speeches were the most central part to this movement and a general trend amongst populist figures.

George Wallace

George Wallace was a governor of Alabama who ran for president four times, seeking the Democratic Party nomination in 1964, 1972, and 1976, as well as being the candidate for the

1968 U.S. presidential election.[24] In 1972, he was shot five times while campaigning and left paralyzed from the waist down.[24] His main political ambition was to protect segregation, proclaiming, "say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever".[25] He also singled out "pointy-headed intellectuals" and "briefcase-toting bureaucrats", leading to his being labeled a populist.[26] His popular and charismatic approach during his rallies and speeches allowed him to capture the voice and support of the white working class in this period. He also assumed the role of the voice of white working-class conservatism in which, we see "the triumph of Wallace-style Conservatism in American Politics."[27] His personal ambitions largely around segregation and anti-elite sentiment oriented his supporters toward a politics of exclusion with regards to who they consider part of "the people" Wallace set out to protect.[citation needed
]

Ross Perot

2000 U.S. presidential election.[33]

Sarah Palin

2008 U.S. presidential election. She has been referred to as a cultural populist in the vein of Wallace.[34]

Donald Trump

See also: Trumpism

Donald Trump, president from 2017 to 2021 and since 2025, has been referred to as a populist.[35] His rhetoric presented him as a leader who "alone can fix" the problems of American politics and represent the "forgotten men and women of our country", with echoes of the populism of Jackson's presidency.[36] Trump's modern populism is argued to show the symbiotic relationship between nationalism and populism.[37] Moreover, the rise of Trump's election was argued by some scholars to represent the "tyranny of the majority", whereby Trump's attacks on liberal and progressive politics allowed him to gain enough voters to win, so he did not need to appease the majority of voters or be a president for "every American".[10]

Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders has been called a populist from the opposite side of the political spectrum to Trump,[38][39] with many differences between the two.[40] Sanders' populism is opposed to political, corporate, and media elites, especially the American financial industry epitomized by Wall Street, as well as the wealthiest one percent.[41][39] When he did not win the Democratic nomination for president in the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries, he was re-elected as an independent senator for his home state Vermont in 2018.[38] Other Democratic politicians in Sanders' vein include Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.[42]

See also

References

  1. doi:10.1146/annurev-polisci-041719-102503
    .
  2. ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  3. JSTOR 26443307
    .
  4. JSTOR 422412
    .
  5. ^ Rodrik, Dani (October 29, 2019). "Many forms of populism". VoxEU.org. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c "Quillen: Two forms of populism". The Denver Post. February 4, 2010. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  7. ISBN 978-1-85984-651-3
    .
  8. S2CID 153754762
    .
  9. ^ Knott, Andy. "What is populism – and why is it so hard to define?". The Conversation. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  10. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7190-7771-5
    , retrieved January 31, 2021
  11. ^ "The origins of populism: bogus-democracy and capitalism". openDemocracy. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  12. ISBN 978-0-8047-9613-2
    , retrieved January 31, 2021
  13. ^ David S. Brown, The First Populist: The Defiant Life of Andrew Jackson (Simon and Schuster, 2022).
  14. ^ Reynolds, David S. "What Trump could learn from Andrew Jackson". CNN. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  15. ^ Gene Clanton, Populism: The Humane Preference in America, 1890–1900 (Twayne, 1991).
  16. ^ George Brown Tindall, ed., A Populist Reader: Selections from the Works of American Populist Leaders (1966).
  17. ^ William F. Holmes, ed., American Populism (1994) has 19 excerpts from historians.
  18. ^ Gene Clanton, "Populism, Progressivism, and Equality: The Kansas Paradigm" Agricultural History (1977) 51#3 pp. 559–581.
  19. ^ "Long campaigned as a populist before Trump". Newsday. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  20. ^ Foundation, Constitutional Rights (July 9, 2020). "'Every Man a King': Huey Long's Troubled Populism". Medium. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  21. ^ ""He's a Demagogue, That's What He Is": Hodding Carter on Huey Long". historymatters.gmu.edu. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  22. ^ Mercer, Adrian (April 26, 2018). "Donald Trump's presidency has a disturbing parallel in the political career of Huey Long". USAPP. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  23. ISSN 0003-1224
    .
  24. ^ a b potus_geeks (March 19, 2017). "Presidents and Populism: George Wallace". Presidential History Geeks. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  25. ^ "The George Wallace of 2016". Roll Call. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  26. ISSN 0099-9660
    . Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  27. ^ Carter, Dan (2000). The Politics of Rage: George Wallace, the Origins of the New Conservatism, and the Transformation of American Politics (2nd ed.). Louisiana State University Press. pp. 10–17.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  28. ^ "Gore's Two Kinds of Populism". Slate Magazine. September 1, 2000. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  29. ^ a b "Two Views Of The Tea Party's Appeal". www.wbur.org. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  30. ^ "Palin's populism bridge to nowhere". Boston Herald. February 18, 2010. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  31. ^ Yoachum, Susan. "Pols, Pols, & Populism". Mother Jones. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  32. ^ "Year of the Outsider". Pew Research Center – U.S. Politics & Policy. June 16, 1992. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  33. ^ "Ross Perot was the populist who betrayed populism". Spectator USA. July 9, 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  34. ^ "Quillen: Sarah Palin and modern populism". The Denver Post. July 7, 2009. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  35. ISSN 0003-1615
    .
  36. ^ Friedman, Uri (February 27, 2017). "What Is a Populist?". The Atlantic. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
  37. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198803560.013.18
    .
  38. ^ a b "Bernie Sanders: Populist or Not? by Leon Chin". www.democratic-erosion.com. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  39. ^ a b Suzdaltsev, Jules. "What is Populism?". Seeker. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  40. ^ Hilton, Steve (February 24, 2020). "Steve Hilton: Don't believe the pundits – Bernie Sanders is not a populist like Trump". Fox News. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  41. ^ Cassidy, John. "Bernie Sanders and the New Populism". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  42. ^ Tan, Anjelica (January 16, 2020). "Bernie Sanders gives Democrats firepower with populist message". TheHill. Retrieved December 1, 2020.

Further reading

  • Betz, Hans-Georg. "A distant mirror: Nineteenth-century populism, nativism, and contemporary right-wing radical politics". Democracy and Security 9.3 (2013): 200–220. online
  • Conley, Richard S. Donald Trump and American Populism (Edinburgh University Press. 2020)
  • Critchlow, Donald T. In Defense of Populism: Protest and American Democracy (2020), interpretations by conservative scholar; excerpt
  • Fahey, James J. "Building Populist Discourse: An Analysis of Populist Communication in American Presidential Elections, 1896–2016". Social Science Quarterly 102.4 (2021): 1268–1288. online
  • Goebel, Thomas. "The political economy of American populism from Jackson to the New Deal". Studies in American Political Development 11.1 (1997): 109–148.
  • McMath, Robert C. American populism: A social history, 1877–1898 (1993).
  • Mudde, Cas. The relationship between immigration and nativism in Europe and North America (Washington press, 2012) online.

Historiography

  • Holmes, William F. "Populism: In search of context". Agricultural History 64.4 (1990): 26–58 online.
  • Kaltwasser, Cristobal Rovira et al. eds. The Oxford Handbook of Populism (Oxford University Press, 2019), global coverage; excerpt, ch 12 and passim
  • McMath, Robert C. "C. Vann Woodward and the burden of southern populism". Journal of Southern History 67.4 (2001): 741–768. historiography of C. Vann Woodward see online
  • Webb, Samuel L. "Southern politics in the age of populism and progressivism: A historiographical essay". in A Companion to the American South (2002): 321–335.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Populism_in_the_United_States&oldid=1293276408"