A
considerable number of western democracies have seen a wave of populism that
has not been witnessed since the end of the Second World War. This form of
populism has taken on the characteristic of nationalism and a shift to the
right by many of the populace in numerous nations, including the United States.
The decades of political development that shifts towards the left have been
eroded due to the rise of inequality in society that has created an environment
where there is a lot of dissatisfaction on the part of the population towards
the political establishment.[1]
This has created an environment within which it is easier for what were once
considered to be fringe ideas and political parties to take on center stage in
a way that has not been seen in almost a century. The rise of populism and
populist ideas in the modern world has created significant divisions in
society, with most of those supporting them viewing them as a viable
alternative to the current unequal conditions that are prevalent in society.[2]
The appeal of authoritarian populism has therefore become a matter of concern
in the western world because it shows the manner through which there are
efforts to ensure that the political establishment listens to the people. This
paper considers the rise of President Trump in the United States based on the
significant inequality that has developed in the country. It shows the way that
this individual was able, with his populist ideas, to create and influence a
powerful political base among Americans that felt disenfranchised by the
establishment.
Populism
in this paper is a term that will be used to describe the way that politicians
will often claim to represent the true will of the people over those of
self-serving political elite. This is a term that can be used to describe the
manner through which the populist leaderships over the last five years have
been able to advance their agenda. The Brexit vote and the victory of Donald
Trump in 2016 are pertinent examples of the way that this term can be applied,
as seen through the way that the latter was able to ensure that he established
a powerful support base among conservatives and some liberals which allowed him
to be voted into office.[3]
It is noteworthy that the case of President Trump has garnered more attention
due to the fact that it was out of character of the American political
establishment. Trump was able to defeat establishment candidates both within
the Republican and Democratic parties in order to attain the presidency; a sign
of the way that populism has essentially become a phenomenon that covers a wide
range of contexts that appeal to the populace.
The
rise in inequality has created an environment within which populism has become
more appealing. In the United States, for example, there have been concerns
over a diversity of issues that are believed to have caused the inequality that
has become prevalent in society. Among these are developments in the modern
world such as automation, globalization, and the financial crisis, which have
spawned a transformation of labor markets while at the same time creating an
environment within which there is widespread economic insecurity and
dislocation.[4]
This has made it extremely difficult for individuals without higher education
as well as those that have specialized in specific jobs that have become
redundant to seek a solution in avenues other than what that are used to.
Furthermore, it is important to note that these issues have eroded the trust
that individuals had in the political system, with those on the losing side
opting to seek out populist leaders and political parties that offer solutions
based on the breaking of the status quo. An example of this is the trade
protectionism and nationalism that has made Trump widely popular; especially
among working class white Americans.
The
rise of populism in the United States has come about because of both economic
and cultural factors. Both of these factors are major causes of inequality in
society based on the idea of disenfranchisement. A consequence of this scenario
is that it has allowed for the rise of Donald Trump during a time when a
considerable part of the population, specifically the conservatives, were seen
to be on the losing side based on the left-leaning policies that have been
implemented by governments in the decades prior to Trump’s winning the
presidency.[5] The
conservative base that leans towards Trump is made up of individuals who
believe that their interests have long been thwarted by the liberal political
establishment to such an extent that they have essentially been neglected.
These individuals believe that there is the need to make sure that there is the
reversal of policies that are considered harmful to them through the
advancement of economic and cultural protectionism. This is the reason why
Trump’s campaign stances on the economy as well as immigration were so
appealing.
The
role of economic insecurity among Americans cannot be underestimated when
considering the appeal of authoritarian populism and the rise of Donald Trump. Trump’s
populist ideas were aimed at appealing to those individuals in American society
who felt that they had lost their economic security due to the policies of the
political establishment.[6]
The belief that it was the failure of the government to ensure that their jobs
were protected against corporations that undertook offshoring as well as
uncontrolled immigration that made wages cheaper, is one that has fed the
populist base and one that populist leaders often take advantage of as a means
of advancing their own agendas. President Trump was able to appeal to his
political base because of the promises that he made concerning the need to
radically change the government policies of the United States and to put
American first and make America great. The significance of his pronouncements
is that it appealed to the nostalgic aspect of his support base because they
believed that he would take America back to the era when there was greater
equality in society.
Economic
inequality is a concept that can be directly associated with the rise of
populism. The idea of economic inequality is one that has essentially created
significant divisions in society. This is based on the manner through which the
increase in the number of individuals that feel disenfranchised at both the
economic and cultural levels have ended up in a scenario where they feel the
need to regain the power that they once had.[7]
The appeal of Trumpism is therefore one that was brought about because of the
belief that it would lead to a return to prosperity among Americans. Most
Americans who have lost their jobs because of the establishment of
globalization and automation have come to believe that the only way to regain
the economic prosperity that they enjoyed is through regaining their jobs. The
latter can only be undertaken through a total overhaul of the political
establishment, which is believed to serve the individual and corporate
interests over those of society. Trump’s appeal in this case is therefore one
that can be considered to have come about because of his stance on the reversal
of offshoring as well as the creation of jobs at the domestic level.
Populism
in the 21st century can be considered to have come about because of
the desire to seek out alternative solutions to those presented by the
political establishment. The appeal of Trumpism in this case can be seen
through the way that it offered an alternative to the stance taken by the
American establishment concerning how to tackle the economic inequality that
has become prevalent in society because of globalization and the development of
new technologies that have made human participation in some jobs redundant.[8]
Economic factors were the primary reason behind the shift of the conservative
base towards Trump because he is an individual that advanced the views of the
people who felt that they had been left behind by the political establishment
as it undertook its liberal agenda. The closure of numerous factories within
the manufacturing industry in the United States and their offshoring to other
countries where production costs were lesser had left many Americans out of
work and the risk of such events taking place had created economic insecurity.
Therefore, Trump’s declaration that he would reverse this trend made him the
more appealing candidate since he was the only one that sought to bring about a
complete overhaul of the political establishment’s economic priorities.[9]
In this way, the populist vote in the United States was shaped and it allowed
Trump to not only win the presidency, but also become the most dominant force
in the Republican Party.
The
attempt to explain Trump’s 2016 electoral victory is one that is tied to the
economic inequality that has plagued the United States with the advent of
globalization. A significant number of individuals within the population, as
stated above, ended up becoming losers to globalization while others reaped
significantly from it. Moreover, a considerable part of the basic products used
in the United States were no longer being produced domestically and instead,
there was the creation of an environment within which China accounted for a
large share of the imports that came into the United States.[10]
Consequently, Trump’s appeal can be considered to be one that promoted the
advancement of the interests of those who had lost from globalization, which
allowed him to win even those states that were previously considered to be
staunchly Democrat. The adverse shock that came from the imports from China
made it possible for Trump to gain the sympathy of the working class Americans
who believed that he was willing to take on the unequal trade balance with
China while at the same time repatriating American jobs. Thus, not only was he
appealing through the populist perspective, but also from the nationalist one
as well. Therefore, without the negative impact of globalization through the
creation of economic inequality in the United States, it would have been
extremely difficult for the populist stance of Donald Trump to be given
credence.
Trump’s
rise to the presidency came about because of the economic insecurity of voters.
This followed a trend that came about following the 2008 financial crisis that
saw a large number of individuals in society facing economic insecurity for the
first time in their lives.[11]
In the aftermath, many of these individuals shifted their political views to
the right, essentially blaming the liberal establishment as well as
globalization for the problems that they were facing. As a consequence, the
political shift to the right came about because of the desire to weaken some of
the global or international institutions that were seen as having been
responsible for the financial crisis and the significant losses that came about
as a result. Thus, while the overall support for populist of modest, the effect
of economic insecurity in voting patterns favoring them cannot be
underestimated because populist leaders and parties will often end up receiving
what can be termed as protest votes. These circumstances allowed for the rise
of Trump and provided him with the leverage that he needed to take over the
Republican Party as well as dominate it throughout his term in office.
Moreover, his stance on economic issues greatly appealed to his support base to
such an extent that it ensured that the support was maintained as he undertook
policies that were quite controversial, including unilaterally pulling out of
international trade agreements.
Another
aspect of the economic causes for the election of Trump is those involving
immigration. This is a most salient issue for voters and parties that promote
populist ideas. For a number of decades in the United States, there was the
belief that migrant workers from Mexico that came to the country would often
work for less wages that local workers; resulting in a scenario where there was
a preference for migrant labor.[12]
A consequence of this scenario is that there is widespread belief among many
conservatives in the nation that migrant labor, especially illegal migration,
is one of the biggest causes of the economic insecurity that is being
experienced by parts of the American population. Therefore, it is important to
ensure that there is the prevention of illegal migration as a means of allowing
for greater access of jobs for locals since it is the migrants that take away
these job opportunities. Trump’s appeal in this case came from his tough stance
on immigration and the policies that he proposed to ensure that illegal
immigration was curbed while at the same time promoting policies that
discouraged immigration to the United States altogether. The latter can be
considered pertinent to understanding the widespread support that this individual
gained once he was established as the clear frontrunner in the Republican
primaries. Not only was he seen as a force for change, but the change that he
advocated for went against the way that the political establishment had become
used to handling things.
However,
it is essential to also consider that the rise of the appeal of populism came
about because of long term structural and social changes. These changes, such
as an increase in access to higher education, ethnic diversity, as well as
urbanization created an environment where progressive cultural shifts were
inevitable.[13]
While this may have been the case, a significant number of individuals in
society, especially those who had held economic and social dominance for a long
time, lost the privileges that they had once taken for granted as their right.
This might explain the considerable resentment towards progressive values amid
the displacement of the traditional social values that they hold dear. There is
resentment, especially among the white working class, towards the political
establishment and the social actors that made these changes possible, with the
result being that there is hostility towards what are termed as foreign
influences that come with globalization and create a demographic and cultural
threat. Therefore, the appeal of Trump’s populism can be considered to have
come about because of the stance that he took towards immigration and the
social and economic changes that had taken place in society. The conservatives
saw in him a champion to advance their cause in a political climate that was
increasingly hostile towards them.
It
is noteworthy that the discussion above considers rise of populism embodied by President
Trump in the United States based on the significant inequality that has
developed in the country due to the social and economic changes that have taken
place as a result of globalization. This form of populism came about because of
the economic insecurities that came from such incidents as the financial
crisis, offshoring, and globalization in general that created an environment
within which a part of the population felt that it had been left behind. A
consequence is that there was a turn to populism as a means of making sure that
their voices were heard by the political establishment that had long neglected
their opinions and had instead undertaken the promotion of their own selfish
interests.
[1] Vlastimil Havlík, "Technocratic Populism and Political Illiberalism
in Central Europe," Problems of
Post-Communism 66, no. 6 (2019): 369.
[2] Benjamin De Cleen, "Populism and Nationalism," (Oxford
University Press Oxford, 2017), 342.
[3] Tom Vine, "Brexit, Trumpism and Paradox: Epistemological Lessons for
the Critical Consensus," Organization
27, no. 3 (2020): 467.
[4] Philip Stephens, "Populism Is the True Legacy of the Global Financial
Crisis," Financial Times 30
(2018).
[5] Thomas Rudolph, "Populist Anger, Donald Trump, and the 2016
Election," Journal of Elections,
Public Opinion and Parties (2019):
2.
[6] Robert C Rowland, "The Populist and Nationalist Roots of Trump's
Rhetoric," Rhetoric and Public Affairs
22, no. 3 (2019): 344.
[7] Richard Nunan and Mark C Navin, "Introduction: Conceptualizing
Populism, Democracy, and Truth," in Democracy,
Populism, and Truth (Springer, 2020), 1.
[8] Donald Moynihan and Alasdair Roberts, "Dysfunction by Design:
Trumpism as Administrative Doctrine," Public
Administration Review 81, no. 1 (2021): 153.
[9] Eliot A Cohen, "America's Long Goodbye: The Real Crisis of the Trump
Era," Foreign Aff. 98 (2019):
138.
[10] Tao Liu and Wing Thye Woo, "Understanding the Us-China Trade
War," China Economic Journal 11,
no. 3 (2018): 338.
[11] Yotam Margalit, "Economic Insecurity and the Causes of Populism,
Reconsidered," Journal of Economic
Perspectives 33, no. 4 (2019): 152.
[12] Garrett Graddy-Lovelace, "Us Farm Policy as Fraught Populism: Tracing
the Scalar Tensions of Nationalist Agricultural Governance," Annals of the American Association of
Geographers 109, no. 2 (2019): 404-05.
[13] Dani Rodrik, "Why Does Globalization Fuel Populism? Economics,
Culture, and the Rise of Right-Wing Populism," (National Bureau of
Economic Research, 2020), 5.
