Category Archives: Populism

ROME (AP) Pope Francis ate lunch with hundreds of refugees, poor and homeless people on Sunday as he called for a renewed commitment to helping societys weakest and denounced the sirens of populism that drown out their cries for help.

Francis celebrated the Catholic Churchs World Day of the Poor by inviting an estimated 1,300 poor people into the Vatican for a special Mass and luncheon. Children threw their arms around his neck as he sat at one of dozens of tables set up in the Vatican audience hall.

During the Mass that preceded it, Francis denounced the indifference that the world shows to migrants and the poor, as well as the prophets of doom who fuel fear and conspiracies about migrants for personal gain.

Let us not be enchanted by the sirens of populism, which exploit peoples real needs by facile and hasty solutions, Francis said.

This years commemoration takes place as Italy once again is at the heart of a European debate over migration, with the far-right-led government of Premier Giorgia Meloni going head-to-head with France over the fate of people rescued in the Mediterranean. Italy kept four rescue boats at sea for days until finally allowing three to disembark last week and forcing France to take in the fourth.

The standoff sparked a diplomatic row that resulted in France suspending its participation in a European migrant redistribution program and reinforcing its border crossings with Italy.

Francis lamented that the war in Ukraine is only adding to the plight of the poor, who are still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, as well as from natural disasters and climate change.

Today also, much more than in the past, many of our brothers and sisters, sorely tested and disheartened, migrate in search of hope, and many people experience insecurity due to the lack of employment or unjust and undignified working conditions, he said.

In addition to the luncheon, free medical checks that had been halted due to COVID-19 were restarted this week in St. Peters Square, providing checkups, vaccines, blood tests, electrocardiograms as well as tests for hepatitis C, tuberculosis and HIV. Area parishes were also distributing 5,000 boxes of food donated by a supermarket.

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Pope lunches with poor, denounces sirens of populism

The reports about Luiz Incio 'Lula' da Silva's impending comeback as Brazilian president verged on the ecstatic in the week before the vote on Oct 2. He was after all, fourteen points ahead of his populist rival, incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro, in the last opinion poll before the vote.

"Lula on track for stunning political comeback," said one paper. "Ol, ol, ol! Lula voters sing for a heroic comeback to banish Bolsonaro," said another. Speculation was rife that Mr Lula would win more than 50% in the first round of voting, avoiding the need for a runoff vote between the two leading candidates on Oct 30.

But the polls were wrong. Mr Lula got a respectable 48% of the vote, but he was only five points ahead of Mr Bolsonaro at 43%, and in Brazilian politics the candidates in the lead often fall behind in the second round. The long anticipated global decline and fall of the hard-right populist movement has been at least postponed.

This is particularly relevant to the United States, where Donald Trump constantly praises Bolsonaro as "Tropical Trump". Mr Lula is to the left of Joe Biden, but both men are ageing stalwarts of the centre-left who have made political comebacks but already feel a little bit like yesterday's news.

What has already happened in this first-round presidential election in Brazil is a triumph of the hard right in the simultaneous Congressional elections that would make another Lula presidency very difficult. Joe Biden may face similar difficulties after next month's US mid-term Congressional elections, if polling predictions are right.

Both men have essentially promised a return to the sensible, moderate centre-left politics of yore, and that doesn't seem to be setting hearts aflame in either country. To be fair, however, Mr Lula bears an additional handicap: a criminal conviction.

I spent a whole day with Lula long ago in So Paulo's car-making suburb of So Bernardo do Campo, when he was genuinely a horny-handed son of toil and a trade union organiser. He certainly seemed to be an honest man then, even a poor man, but he was freed from jail only last year after serving part of a twelve-year sentence for corruption in office.

It wasn't a lot of money and the charges may have been trumped up: the judge who brought them and sent Lula to jail, Sergio Moro, was later given a post in Mr Bolsonaro's government as justice minister.

There is no clear evidence that the populist wave is subsiding. Mr Bolsonaro could get a second term, Mr Trump could come back in the United States, Mr Modi is not losing his grip in India. Mr Orbn won a landslide re-election victory in Hungary last month, a hard-right coalition won last month's election in Italy, Boris Johnson might even make a comeback in the UK.

The driving force in this populist wave is a thinly disguised alliance between a very rich elite and the resentful, downwardly mobile parts of the old middle and working classes. The emotional cement that holds it together involves a strong dose of extreme religion, deep social conservatism (eg, homophobia), ultra-nationalism, and anti-immigrant sentiment.

Not every element is present in every country. Religion is not a big part of populism in England; immigration is not a major issue in Brazil or India. But fear and scapegoating of minorities is almost universal, and an abundance of lies and endless "culture war" distractions serve to paper over the cracks in this cynical alliance of opposites.

Populism will be with us for some time yet, and it may even spread a bit. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoan may cover the rest of the distance to full populism as the country's economic problems worsen, and France might have gone full populist last year.

The other side is parties of the democratic left that are winning power in almost all the rest of Latin America -- Alberto Fernndez in Argentina (2019), Luis Arce in Bolivia (2020), Pedro Castillo in Peru and Gabriel Boric in Chile (2021), Xiomara Castro in Honduras (2022), and most recently Gustavo Petro in Columbia.

It's also noteworthy that only three of the European Union's 27 members currently have populist governments: Italy, Poland and Hungary. Moreover, the new Italian coalition may not last long, and Poland's populism is for domestic affairs only: Polish populists are not admirers of Vladimir Putin.

In Asia and Africa, the populist formula has not been deployed in politics at all except in India. As a recently refurbished political technique it is having some successes, but every new political technique loses its freshness after a while.

And neither Mr Lula nor Mr Biden has lost their next elections yet.

Gwynne Dyer

Independent journalist

Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries. His new book is 'Growing Pains: The Future of Democracy (and Work)'.

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3 steps forward, but 2.5 back for populism - bangkokpost.com

1. Pence warns of 'unprincipled populism,' 'Putin apologists'  Fox 34
2. Former VP Mike Pence Urges GOP Caution on 'Unprincipled Populism'  Bloomberg
3. Pence takes several veiled swipes at Trump while warning against siren song of unprincipled populism  The Hill
4. Mike Pence warns of 'unprincipled populists,' 'Putin apologists' in Republican Party  The Hindu
5. View Full Coverage on Google News

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Pence warns of 'unprincipled populism,' 'Putin apologists' - Fox 34

London lesson: The 44-day govt in Britain is a reminder to our politicians to give up fiscal populism  Times of India

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London lesson: The 44-day govt in Britain is a reminder to our politicians to give up fiscal populism - Times of India

Political ideology that combines left-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes

Left-wing populism, also called social populism, is a political ideology that combines left-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric often consists of anti-elitism, opposition to the Establishment, and speaking for the "common people".[1] Recurring themes for left-wing populists include economic democracy, social justice, and scepticism of globalization. Socialist theory plays a lesser role than in traditional left-wing ideologies.[2][3]

Criticism of capitalism and globalization is linked to antimilitarism, which has increased in left populist movements due to unpopular United States military operations, especially those in the Middle East.[4] It is considered that the populist left does not exclude others horizontally and relies on egalitarian ideals.[1] Some scholars also speak of nationalist left-wing populist movements, a feature exhibited by the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua or the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela. Unlike exclusionary or right-wing populism, left-wing populist parties tend to claim to be supportive of minority rights,[5] as well as to an idea of nationality that is not delimited by cultural or ethnic particularisms.[6]

With the rise of Syriza and Podemos during the European debt crisis, there has been increased debate on new left-wing populism in Europe.[7][8] Traditionally, left-wing populism has been associated with the socialist movement; since the 2010s, there has been a movement close to left-wing populism in the left-liberal camp,[9][10][11][12][13] some of which are considered social democratic positions.[14][15] Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, self-described democratic socialists, are examples of modern left-wing populist politicians.[16][17][18][19]

Cristina Fernndez de Kirchner (the President of Argentina from 2007 to 2015) and her husband Nstor Kirchner were said to practice Kirchnerism, a variant of Peronism that was often mentioned alongside other Pink tide governments in Latin America. During Cristina Fernndez de Kirchner's time in office, she spoke against certain free trade agreements, such as the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas. Her administration was characterized by tax increases, especially on agricultural exports during the late 2000s commodities boom, Argentina's main export, in order to fund social programs such as the PROGRESAR university scholarships, the universal allocation per child subsidy (commonly referred to as AUH in Argentina, Asignacin Universal por Hijo), a means-tested benefit to families with children who qualified for the subsidy, and progressive social reforms such as the recognition of same-sex marriage.

The leadership of Siles Zuazo practised left-wing populism[20] as well as that of former socialist President Evo Morales.[21]

Lulism is a pragmatic centre-left ideology to the extent that it is called "socialist neoliberalism",[22] but it appeals to a progressive, common-class image and also has populist elements in terms of popular mobilization.[23]

Rafael Correa, the former President of Ecuador, has stressed the importance of a "populist discourse" and has integrated technocrats to work within this context for the common Ecuadorians. Correa has blamed foreign non-governmental organizations for exploiting the indigenous people in the conflict between the indigenous peoples and the government.[24][25][26]

The current governing party, the National Regeneration Movement, is a left-wing populist party.[27]

Huey Long, the Great Depression-era Governor-turned-Senator of Louisiana, was one of the first modern American left-wing populists in the United States, advocating for wealth redistribution under his Share Our Wealth plan, which had its roots in the classical left-wing populist movement of Jacksonian democracy,[28] which is related to the radical movement.[29][30][31]

Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, self-described democratic socialists, are examples of modern left-wing populist politicians.[16][17][18][19] Ocasio-Cortez's Democratic primary victory over the establishment Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley, a 10-term incumbent, was widely seen as the biggest upset victory in the 2018 midterm election primaries. The Nation magazine described Ocasio-Cortez as a "new rock star" who was "storming the country on behalf of insurgent populists."[32] Elizabeth Warren is also mentioned as a representative left-wing or liberal populist,[12][13][33] and she is sometimes evaluated as a social democrat.[14][15][34]

The presidency of Hugo Chvez resembled a combination of folk wisdom and charismatic leadership with doctrinaire socialism.[21] Chvez's government was also described as a "throwback" to populist nationalism and redistributism.[35]

Yesh Atid is a radical centrist or liberal party. In Israeli politics, "liberal" is not particularly a concept that is distinguished by left or right, but Yesh Atid is evaluated that it has a left-wing populist element in part. They criticize elitism that causes political corruption and demand a position on material redistribution.[9] However, Yesh Atid has an element of economic liberalism simultaneously.[36]

Reiwa Shinsengumi, led by Tar Yamamoto, is a representative Japanese left-wing populist movement. While he and his party use anti-capitalist rhetoric, they are sometimes called "liberal populist".[10]

South Korea's leftist political party, the Progressive Party, advocates direct democracy, anti-neoliberalism and anti-imperialism. They support a liberal-nationalist foreign policy hostile to Japan.

Lee Jae-myung, one of DPK's major politicians, has been compared to "Bernie Sanders" or mentioned as a "populist" in some media outlets.[37][38][11][39] Lee Jae-myung pledged to implement the world's first universal basic income system if elected in the 2022 South Korean presidential election but said he would not pay for it if the people opposed it.[40][41] South Korea's right-wing politician Hong Joon-pyo saw Lee Jae-myung in September 2021 and accused him of being "Chvez of Gyeonggi Province".[42] However, there is controversy in South Korea as to whether Lee Jae-myung can be viewed as a "left-wing populist" in the context of the United States or Europe. He once said he was "conservative" and suggested policies far from general left-wing populism in the United States and Europe, partially insisting on economic liberal policies such as deregulating companies on some issues.[43][44] In addition, he showed a somewhat conservative tendency on some social agendas.[45] In addition, Kim Hyun-jong, the head of the International Trade Special Division at the Lee Jae-myung Camp, met with Henry Kissinger, and Henry Kissinger gave Lee Jae-myung a handwritten autograph called "Good wishes".[46] In addition, Lee Jae-myung's political orientation was somewhat ambiguous, so conservative journalist Dong-A Ilbo denied that he was a left-wing politician, while South Korea's far-left organization Workers' Solidarity evaluated him as a social democratic. (However, another South Korean left-wing undongkwon group denied that Lee Jae-myung is not a social democratic.)[47][48][49]

The Party of Democratic Socialism was explicitly studied under left-wing populism, especially by German academics.[50] The party was formed after the reunification of Germany, and it was similar to right-wing populists in that it relied on anti-elitism and media attention provided by charismatic leadership.[51] The party competed for the same voter base with the right-wing populists to some extent, although it relied on a more serious platform in Eastern Germany. This was limited by anti-immigration sentiments preferred by some voters, although the lines were, for example, crossed by Oskar Lafontaine, who used a term previously associated with the Nazi Party, Fremdarbeiter ("foreign workers"), in his election campaign in 2005.[51] The PDS merged into the Left Party in 2007.[52] The Left Party is also viewed as a left-wing populist party,[53] but it is not the basis of the party as a whole.

Syriza, which became the largest party since January 2015 elections, has been described as a left-wing populist party after its platform incorporated most demands of the popular movements in Greece during the government-debt crisis. Populist traits in Syriza's platform include the growing importance of "the People" in their rhetoric and "us/the people against them/the establishment" antagonism in campaigning. On immigration and LGBT rights, Syriza is inclusionary. Syriza itself does not accept the label "populist".[54][55]

The Italian Five Star Movement (M5S), which became the largest party in the 2018 general election, has often been described as a big tent populist party,[56][57] but sometimes also as a left-wing populist movement;[58] the "five stars", which are a reference to five critical issues for the party, are public water, sustainable transport, sustainable development, right to Internet access, and environmentalism, typical proposals of left-wing populist parties.[59] However, despite its background in left-wing politics, the M5S has often expressed right-wing views on immigration.[60]

In September 2019, the M5S formed a government with the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and the left-wing Free and Equal(LeU), with Giuseppe Conte at its head.[61][62] The government has been sometimes referred to as a left-wing populist cabinet.[63]

The Socialist Party has run a left-wing populist platform after dropping its communist course in 1991.[64] Although some have pointed out that the party has become less populist over the years, it still includes anti-elitism in its recent election manifestos.[65] It opposes what it sees as the European superstate.

The left-wing populist party Podemos achieved 8% of the national vote in the 2014 European Parliament election. Due to avoiding nativist language typical of right-wing populists, Podemos can attract left-wing voters disappointed with the political establishment without taking sides in the regional political struggle.[66] In the 2015 election for the national parliament, Podemos reached 20.65% of the vote and became the third largest party in the parliament after the conservative People's Party with 28.71% and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party with 22.02%. In the new parliament, Podemos holds 69 out of 350 seats, which has resulted in the end of the traditional two-party system in Spain.[67] In a November 2018 interview with Jacobin, igo Errejn argues that Podemos requires a new "national-popular" strategy to win more elections.[68]

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Left-wing populism - Wikipedia

Poilievre crushes Laurentian Elite Charest in first ballot

Pierre Poilievre dispensed the naysayers in the Canadian Conservative leadership convention and swept the top job on the first ballot, something that hasnt happened since Stephen Harper kicked off his political dynasty in 2004.

The Poilievre movement brought 300,000 new members into the Conservative Party (myself and my wife included), which resulted in 68% of votes. The Laurentian elite anointed (and media approved) candidate was Jean Charest, who was clubbed like a baby seal, stitching together a mere 16% of the vote. This morning Charest announced his departure from politics.

The entirety of Charest support originated in the Ottawa and Quebec liberal strongholds. Even downtown Toronto, where the Conservatives are dominated by so-called Red Tories, voted overwhelmingly for Poilievre.

The few Charest supporters whose lives are confined almost entirely to a bubble-wrapped echo chamber surrounding downtown Ottawa are now ruminating that Poilievre is unelectable and cant beat Justin Trudeau in an election contest.

There have even been rumblings of the prospect that Trudeau may, if Poilievre were to win, call a snap election this fall in order to catch the , inexperienced populist off-guard. In August, Jean Charest sent a desperate, hyperventilating email to party members begging for their support and fearmongering the prospect of Trudeau trouncing an unprepared Poilievre this fall:

Firing the Governor of the Bank of Canada and embracing Bitcoin you say? lol. WHERE DO I SIGN UP?

Any snap election this fall would be the political miscalculation of the century. The map above shows you everything you need to know about what is happening in Canada: a mad-as-hell public, betrayed, and increasingly demonized by out-of-touch elites from an entitled political class that straddles all parties.

When the trucker convoy started in February, I said its mishandling would cost all three party leaders their job and it had gutted any remaining credibility of Canadian mainstream media. This thesis is playing out in spades.

The last time the Canadian public was this disenfranchised and alienated by the incumbent government was when Brian Mulroneys Progressive Conservative party was literally destroyed in the 1993 federal election, going from 156 seats to 2. They lost their party status, and that was the end of the PCs (until the aforementioned Harper led a reconstituted Conservative Party with elements of the Reform Party and Canadian Alliance to power in 2006).

The Liberals are headed for a similar fate. Earlier this year Trudeau and the millionaire Marxist Jagmeet Singh merged their parties into a Liberal/Socialist coalition in a deal that would keep them in power until 2025. If the alliance hangs together that long it will remain to be seen whether Trudeau actually sticks around for the election. Its more likely that he bows out, leaving one of his underlings holding the bag for the inevitable carnage that will see the Liberals utterly eviscerated the next time Canadian voters get a crack at them.

It appears as though left-wing heads are exploding all over the internet as triggered libs are already equating Poilievre with white supremacy and appealing for King Charles to intercede

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Populism on the rise in Canada as unelectable Pierre Poilievre sweeps ...

Earlier this year, British comedian-turned podcaster Russell Brand interviewed Thomas Frank, the long-standing liberal defender of American populism. For a man who has spent several decades imploring liberals to listen to what working-class and rural America are saying, in this instance, he failed to heed his own advice. When asked by Brand about the contemporary American populist movement, as represented by Steve Bannon, Frank replied,

"In my opinion, there is no such thing as right-wing populism, there are people who mimic it, and Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, would be people I would list. But populism is the Jeffersonian tradition in American life. It is a democratic, left-wing movement. It's about building a mass movement, a transracial mass movement of working class people for economic democracy. That's what it is, that's what it's always been."

With that one statement, Frank brushed off the closest thing our current moment has to a democratic, transracial, mass movement of working-class people. He dismissed the only the only serious counterweight to woke corporate hegemony. He denigrated contemporary working-class movements that are far closer to the Wobblies of the early 20th century labor battles than they are to the Black- or Brownshirts of the dark days of European fascism.

Sadly, Frank is not an aberration but an exemplar par excellence of a type of thinking that's taken hold of the Left, namely, conflating being Left-wing with moral goodness, to the extent that anything not Left-wing is a moral evil. Thanks to this line of thinking, the Left has taken to seeing the actual populist movements rising up across the globe as a threatthough these Right-wing populist movements embody a broad coalition of non-elites advocating for themselves against powerful governments and corporationsin other words, the very thing that the Left is supposed to itself embody.

Confronted with Right-inspired populist movements like parents showing up at school board meetings in Virginia, truckers protesting in Canada, and Brexit voters in the north of Englandpeople of all races who simply do not want their basic, fundamental values transgressedthe Left sees only white supremacists, fascists, and racists. Even the word "populism" is more often than not preceded adjectives like "far right" and "extremist" in mainstream liberal media.

The result is a truly tragic missed opportunity for solidarity between Left and Right. But it's also proof of how far the Left has fallen from its mission.

After all, what is a populist if not someone who stands for fairness for the little guy: a level economic playing field, financial reform, a scaling back of excessive government power, and a rejection of absolutist ideologies. These were once Left-wing values; now, the Left systematically portrays the grassroots populist movements springing up across the world to address these issues as white supremacist, far right actors.

This broad brush character assassination has reached the highest levels of power, as evidenced by President Joe Biden's speech last week denouncing MAGA Republicans in Philadelphia. The most chilling thing the President said was not the accusation of fascism against his political opposition, but rather, his revealing statement that he can only work with "mainstream Republicans." Biden wants you to think that he is cutting out the "semi-fascist" MAGA wing, as he called them a few weeks ago, but what he's actually doing is cutting out the populist wing. Biden was essentially saying to any American looking for real reform: You are my enemy.

That should have alarmed the liberal Left as much as it did the Right. Yet the Left mostly embraced the speech. Like Thomas Frank, if you're not Left, you can't possibly be on the side of the good. Ergo, the thinking goes, you're on the side of fascists.

They let themselves get away with this because they don't know how to listen. Former Bernie Sanders spokesperson Briahna Joy Gray acknowledged this a few weeks ago, as she patiently tried to explain in an interview with progressive journalist Cenk Uygur at The Young Turks that it might be wise for the Left to recognize a difference between a sworn political adversaryshe mentioned Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greenand the ordinary men and women who support Green, in case the Left might be able to win them over. In response, Uygur spent most of the interview berating Gray, calling her and others like her who are willing to speak to people on the other side "fake Leftists."

Self-described progressive Uygur and his Young Turks show are the Left-wing equivalent of the populist Bannon's War Room, a popular podcast that reaches millions. But Uygur is far less smart and less effective, in part because unlike Bannon, he has no cross over appeal. He can barely have a civil discussion with his own side. Meanwhile, Bannon welcomes onto his show with open arms prominent left-wing figures like Naomi Wolf.

For the many who feel besieged by insane political rhetoric and personal attacks, any genuine cross-party discussion feels like sanity. But now Bannon is facing a host of charges over a border-wall fundraising scam that Trump pardoned him forsomething he has cast as an attempt to silence him.

Whatever the legal technicalities of this case turn out to be, for it to come from the same political culture that overlooked the evidence of Hunter Biden's corruption means that Bannon's prosecution will simply provide further proof to his fellow populists that the state is intent on making an enemy out of them.

It's a pretty amazing thing to see those who dare point out the uni-party, who hold both Democrats and Republicans responsible for policies that benefit the only the rich and corporations, be attacked not by the Right but by the Left.

This tactic prevents a serious, effective, non-partisan, people-led opposition. And who benefits from that?

Jenny Holland is a former newspaper reporter and speechwriter. Visit her Substack here.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.

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The Left Is Demonizing PopulistsFor Pushing What the Left Once ...

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Andrew Chapados and Syd Fizzard host this mid-week edition of the DAILY Livestream, taking a look at new Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre's exchange with a member of the Media Party, Prime Minister Trudeau weighed in Poilievre's victory and cited a rise in populism fuelled by misinformation and disinformation, and the mayor of New Orleans plays the race card when questioned about why she needs to travel first class.Visit Rebel News for today's show notes https://rebelne.ws/3xoqqlE

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DAILY | Poilievre vs. Media Party; Trudeau on populism, disinfo; Mayor ...

Within the last decade, a much-misunderstood political revolution has been gathering force across the Western world. It is not a coordinated or ideologically driven movement but, rather, a series of similar developments occurring in disparate countries that, taken together, constitute a profound shift in the political direction of the West. Commonly called populism, it also can be described as nationalism, or, in the view of some, patriotism. Its fundamental tenet is the principle of sovereignty, the idea that the direction and best interests of independent nation-states should be determined by the democratically elected leaders of those countries and not by external doctrines or supra-national organizations led by unelected officials who are essentially unknown to and unaccountable to the people whose destinies they seek to influence.

Some regard populism as alarming, even dangerous. Global elites and their media acolytes routinely denounce it as a threat to democracy, when, in fact, what they really fear is the threat of democracy and its capacity to independently exercise powers such as taxation, regulation and border controls that can be very inconvenient to multinational entities.

The political revolution that is populism is best seen as a direct reaction to an earlier economic revolution globalization which, despite the best intentions of its proponents, has over the past quarter-century greatly exacerbated the worlds problems of income inequality, class conflict and political polarization. In old-fashioned language, the rich have gotten richer and the poor have gotten poorer. In terms of the globalization sweepstakes, populism is a revolt of the more numerous losers against the more powerful winners.

In the Academy Award-winning 1976 film Network, Peter Finch portrayed a frustrated television anchorman who leans out his office window and shouts, Im mad as hell and Im not going to take it anymore! That character could well be seen as the prototype for todays populists.

Upon being elected president of the United States, Barack Obama famously stated that Elections have consequences. Populism has been principally empowered by elections. In smaller countries, such as Hungary, Poland and Sweden, elections have had smaller consequences; in larger countries such as Great Britain, the United States or Italy, elections have had larger consequences. What they all have in common, however, is that they have conferred significant governmental power upon leaders who were seriously committed to addressing the political, economic and cultural anxieties of the mainly working, middle-class voters who elected them.

Three rapidly occurring events propelled populism from being a marginal and regional phenomenon to becoming a central force in most Western countries.

The first was the bold decision by the European Union (EU) in 2015, inspired by then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel, to open its borders to over 2 million migrants, principally refugees from the war-torn Middle East. This decision almost immediately generated controversy and disunity between the Mediterranean EU members, who bore the brunt of the financial and cultural impacts of this exodus, and those further north who did not.

The second event, in the following year, was the highly divisive Brexit election, in which the migration issue evidently made a significant difference in the unexpected and narrowly decided vote that ended Great Britains EU membership.

In the third event, just months after Brexit, illegal migration through Americas porous southern border became a significant issue in the divisive and narrowly decided election of Donald Trump as U.S. president.

Critics of globalization, such as Harvard economist Dani Rodrik and French demographer Christophe Guilluy, have demonstrated that its effects damage the worlds poorest nations in the same way that they damage the poorer classes of Western societies. In the past few years, the harms done to these vulnerable peoples, from economic blows to education deficits to food insecurity, have been magnified by the global pandemic and, more recently, the war in Ukraine.

Across the Western world, the political, economic and social trend lines are not encouraging. Perhaps most urgently, we need leaders who can transcend familiar, parochial concerns, acknowledge past policy errors, and demonstrate the strength and courage to mitigate the ills flowing from globalization and ameliorate its combustible conflict with populism. The time available for these daunting tasks is not limitless.

William Moloney is a Senior Fellow in Conservative Thought at Colorado Christian Universitys Centennial Institute who studied at Oxford and the University of London and received his doctorate from Harvard University. He is a former Colorado Commissioner of Education.

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Globalization is fueling the populism surging across the Western world - The Hill

Opinion

Danielle Smith rode a wave of Alberta populism to win the United Conservative Party leadership on the sixth ballot.

When she is sworn in as premier, she will be a new and potentially disruptive force in Canadian politics.

No longer will Alberta ask permission from Ottawa to be prosperous and free, Smith said in her acceptance speech last Thursday night.

Jeff McIntosh/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Danielle Smith celebrates after being chosen as the new leader of the United Conservative Party on Oct. 6 in Calgary.

We will not have our voices silenced and censored. We will not be told what we must put in our bodies in order to work or to travel. We will not have our resources landlocked or our energy phased out of existence by virtue-signalling prime ministers.

Alberta politics includes a long tradition of populism: a belief that ordinary people are being kept down by an elite. That elite might be the federal government, global environmental activists, scientists or eastern Canadians. Populist leaders often rise to power by offering simplistic but grand plans, such as Donald Trumps promise to build a wall across the border with Mexico.

Populist playbook

Smiths win in the UCP leadership race follows the populist playbook. She positioned herself as an outsider, sided with the protesters angry about COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates and promised she would put Alberta First and fight Ottawa with her sovereignty act.

The UCP leadership race was primed for a populist to win.

The partys membership is predominantly located outside Calgary and Edmonton. Unlike many other parties rules for electing a leader, there was no weighting of votes by electoral district to ensure the new leader has support from across the province.

Each vote was counted equally. Anti-establishment populist sentiment is strong in rural Alberta.

Outsider appeal

Being seen as an outsider is important for politicians who want to ride a populist wave into office. Only an outsider is able to make credible claims they will sweep away the elite.

Smith was the only candidate for UCP leader without a seat in the legislature; many served in former premier Jason Kenneys cabinet. For party members angry at the Kenney government, her claim to be an outsider was an asset.

Smith is not new to Alberta politics, though. She was leader of the Wildrose Party, losing an election in 2012 and then crossing the floor to the government in 2014, ending that chapter of her political career. She then spent six years as a radio talk-show host.

During the pandemic, Smith criticized COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates; her views played a role in her departure from her radio job. In her statement when she left, she said she was gravely troubled by how easily most in our society have chosen to give up on freedom.

Alberta stands out in Canada for its relatively low public support for public-health measures and negative assessment of the provinces pandemic response. As protests over COVID-19 mandates turned into the so-called freedom convoy, UCP supporters were more likely to approve of that protest movement than other Albertans.

Smith was able to mobilize support from Albertans angry about public health restrictions.

One of her earliest campaign videos stated: What happened over the last two years must never happen again Let me be clear: As your premier, our province will never lock down again.

Alberta First and the sovereignty act

While the backlash over COVID-19 restrictions gave Smith momentum to launch her leadership bid, her Alberta First stance solidified her as the leading candidate in the race.

There is a widespread belief among Albertans that the province is not treated fairly or given the respect it deserves. Although a minority of about 20 per cent, separatists are a persistent force in Alberta politics.

Many UCP supporters have been frustrated that Kenneys efforts to eliminate the federal carbon tax, renegotiate the equalization formula and build pipelines to tidewater have not been successful.

Smiths strategy was to adopt a more radical stance on Albertas place in Confederation. The centrepiece of her Alberta First platform is her proposed Alberta sovereignty act, which she has promised will be her first priority as premier.

The sovereignty act was first proposed as part of the Free Alberta Strategy. The document argues Canada has expropriated Albertas wealth for decades and has breached its constitutional agreement with Alberta. It advocates for the Alberta legislature to grant itself the power to refuse to enforce federal legislation or judicial decisions that, in its view, interfere with provincial jurisdiction or attack the interests of Albertans.

Most of the other candidates for the UCP leadership, as well as Kenney and constitutional experts, have criticized the proposal as blatantly unconstitutional and destabilizing to investment in the province. Despite these criticisms, the proposal is popular with Smiths supporters.

Disrupting Canadian politics

When she is sworn in as premier, Smith will be a new and potentially disruptive force in Canadian politics. She will have to hold together a divided caucus, satisfy her supporters and position her party for a provincial election in spring 2023.

If shes able to unite her caucus to pass the sovereignty act, the courts will almost certainly strike it down as unconstitutional, leaving Smith fighting against the Canadian constitutional order during the provincial election.

It remains to be seen whether Smiths time in office will be a brief interlude, or the start of a significant challenge to national unity.

Lisa Young is a professor of political science at the University of Calgary.

This article was first published at The Conversation Canada:theconversation.com/ca.

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