Editor’s Introduction: The Troubled State of Populism

• Published date: 01 May 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12283
• Author: Alexandra W. Lough
• Date: 01 May 2019

Editor’s Introduction: The Troubled State of

Populism

By AlexANDrA W. lough

Introduct ion

The 2016 U.S. presidential campaign and election was bizarre for sev-

eral reasons, aside from the outcome. From accusations of Russian

interference to the increasingly strange and unconventional behavior

of the candidates—remember when Donald Trump gave out Senator

Lindsey Graham’s cell phone number?—the campaign produced a

seemingly endless sequence of head-scratching moments that are

unlikely to be erased from public memory anytime soon, especially as

the nation moves into a new presidential election cycle.

For all its oddity, one of the strangest occurrences in the 2016 cam-

paign, particularly to American historians, was the use of the term “pop-

ulist” to describe then-candidate Donald Trump and Senator Bernie

Sanders. How could the same label possibly describe Trump, a self-de-

scribed billionaire with his promises to build a wall along the 2,000-

mile U.S.-Mexico border and to also repeal Obamacare, and Sanders,

who called for universal healthcare and stricter economic regulations?

As Charles Postel (2016), a preëminent historian of populism in the

United States noted: “Pairing Sanders and Trump indicates just how

flexible the term populist has become and poses the question as to

whether populist has any useful meaning and if so, what it might be.”

After speaking with multiple political scientists, Uri Friedman

(2017) of The Atlantic suggested that “the moral dimension of popu-

lism” explains why a member of the gilded elite like Trump can adopt

the populist label. “He doesn’t argue, ‘I am as rich as you’,” Friedman

explained. “What he argues is, ‘I have the same values as you. I’m also

part of the pure people.’” According to its modern usage, populism is

American Jour nal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 78, No. 3 (May, 2 019).

DOI: 10 .1111/ajes.122 83

© 2019 American Journa l of Economics and Sociology, Inc.

*Assistant editor of the six-volume series, The Annotated Works of Henry George

(Farleigh Dickinson University Press). Previously, Director of the Henry George

Birthplace, Archive, and Historical Research Center. PhD in American history, Brandeis

University (2013). Email: Alexandra.lough@gmail.com

574 The American Journal of Economics and Sociology

“more a political logic than a policy program or sincerely held belief

system.” Thus, Trump can claim he represents the interests and values

of ordinary Americans without actually proposing reforms that will

improve their lives.

Based on this interpretation and in light of recent political events, it

is tempting to dismiss populism as yet another bankrupt political label.

But doing so might be a mistake. Although he failed to secure the

Democratic nomination, Bernie Sanders advanced a form of what many

pundits have labeled “economic populism” that shared many similari-

ties withthe Populists of the 1890s (Salam 2018; Molyneux 2017; The

Telegraph 2016). “Like Sanders,” Postel (2016) explains, “the Populists

called for a political revolution—using the electoral process to create a

more humane and equitable society.” The similarities go deeper:

[Populists] pushed for a progressive income tax to make the wealthy

shoulder more of the tax burden. They demanded public control and

regulation of banking, rai lroads, and other key industries. They advocated

for government investment and currency expa nsion to stimulate the econ-

omy, create jobs, build infrastruct ure, and provide relief to debtors. They

wanted more public colleges and universities and to have them better

serve the needs of working people. (Postel 2016)

Sound famil iar?

Populism did, and in some manifestations, continues to stand for

something. For reasons explored later in this introduction, after 1955,

populism was reduced to a shell of its former meaning. Rather than

the comprehensive program supported by the Populists of the 19th

century, scholars and the media began defining populists by what

they protested and by the “us-versus-them” rhetoric many of them

adopted. As a result, populism wasfrequently attached to movements

on the far right of the political spectrum.

By examining populist movements of the pastin the United States

and around the globe today, this issueseeks to re-inject meaning

into populism. Utilizing a variety of social scientific approaches, the

authors in this issue provide alternative and sometimes competing

definitions of populism. They seek to explain and evaluate such dis-

parate events as Jacob Coxey’s 1894 march to Washington, DC that

protested high unemployment and the 2016 decision by British voters