As described in the previous two sub-sections, politicians in democracies may be tempted to offer populist policies in order to win an election (6.3.2.5) and they may promise to make people feel better with a form of nationalism known as 'authoritarian populism' (6.3.2.6).
It is difficult to counter any kind of populism with facts or arguments, because populists construct their narratives to align with what people want to hear. The voices of ‘experts’ are discounted or ignored, as was the case with Britain’s vote to leave the EU – which is described in more depth later in this chapter (6.6.5.8). Experts always run the risk of sounding condescending, of appearing to think that they know what is good for the population without really understanding people’s concerns. Governments tend to be ignored because, rightly or wrongly, people tend to regard those in power as responsible for every problem.
The safest solution is to remedy the discontent that leads to populism, with a coherent political response to the problems of rapid social and economic change. This is one of the major political issues of the 21st century and is discussed later in this chapter (6.7.8).
The problems of populism can sometimes be mitigated, though, by institutional checks and balances:
· Boris Johnson was prevented from circumventing Parliament to override Britain’s unwritten Constitution (5.2.3).
· Donald Trump won power but lost the next election and so was unable to subvert America’s democracy. Authoritarian populist movements have also been defeated in elections in France and Germany, among others in Europe, so those democracies have survived.
· A political party wants to retain power for prolonged periods; its desire to maintain a reputation for reliability is an incentive for it not to be irresponsible. It can withdraw support from populist individuals who appear to threaten its long-term interests. Anthony Zurcher described how America’s Republican party has started to do this with Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene: an ardent Trump supporter who has expressed extreme views.
· Some democratic systems have mature institutions which are independent from the government, such as central banks which manage inflation (3.3.8.3) and which take a long-term view.
· Stephanie Flanders explained why Britain instituted an Office of Budget Responsibility: to check the budget forecasts used by politicians, making them more politically accountable.
· It is necessary to expose populists who mislead the population to gain, or retain, power. Some measures to ensure that politicians behave responsibly are described later in this chapter (6.8.5).
Whatever countermeasures are taken against populism, however, politicians in democracies are more likely to resort to short-term expediency than those in authoritarian systems who wish to keep power for an indefinite period.
(This is an archived page: a later version than the one published in Patterns of Power Edition 3a. The latest versions are at book contents).