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"The rise to power of populists like Donald Trump is attributed to the shifting values and policy preferences of voters-the demand side. Why Populism shifts the public debate on populism and examines the other half of the equation-the supply side. Kenny argues that to understand the rise of populism is to understand the cost of different strategies for winning and keeping power. For the aspiring leader, populism-appealing directly to the people through mass communication-can be a quicker, cheaper, and more effective strategy than working through a political party. Probing the long history of populism in the West from its Ancient Greek roots to the present, this highly readable book shows that the "economic laws of populism are constant." "Forget ideology. Forget resentment. Forget racism or sexism." Populism, the author writes, is not a question of ideology, but of a hidden strategic calculus"--
List of contents
1. The Price of Power; 2. Populists before Parties; 3. After the Revolution; 4. Democracy's Children; 5. Crisis and Charisma; 6. Survival of the Fittest; 7. Parties, Factions, and Populism; 8. Populism and Democracy.
About the author
Paul Kenny is an award-winning author of two previous books, Populism and Patronage: Why Populists Win Elections in India, Asia, and Beyond (2017) and Populism in Southeast Asia (2017). He holds a Ph.D. in political science from Yale University and degrees in economics and political economy from Trinity College Dublin and the London School of Economics.
Summary
Accessibly and engagingly written, this book uses the conceptual toolkit of economics to show that populists are rational actors in search of the cheapest and fastest route to high office. As a strategy based on direct mass communication with voters, populism thrives when it is more cost-effective than its alternatives.
