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2 results

  • Preface

  • Paul Kenny, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne
  • Book:
    Why Populism?
    Published online:
    17 March 2023
    Print publication:
    06 April 2023, pp ix-xii

  • Summary

    Politics is first and foremost about power. Short of the recourse to violence, politicians can follow one of three strategies in the quest for power: a programmatic, patronage, or populist strategy. This book proposes that this choice is grounded in economic trade-offs. Politicians will follow a populist strategy when it represents a more efficient use of their resources than alternative strategies.

Why Populism?
  • Political Strategy from Ancient Greece to the Present
  • Paul Kenny
  • Published online:
    17 March 2023
    Print publication:
    06 April 2023
  • The rise to power of populists like Donald Trump is usually 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 the result of a hidden strategic calculus.