Understanding Populism
Understand the resurgence of populism in America.
July 18–July 22, 2022
Washington, D.C.
American politics is in a state of flux. The two major parties are closely divided. The range of political viewpoints expressed in national media widens every day. How did we reach this situation? And what political possibilities await the American people?
In this course, we will examine the ideology of “neoliberalism” and several of its challengers. By close readings of primary and secondary sources, we will investigate the arguments, attitudes, and priorities of neoliberals, populists, nationalists, socialists, and post-liberals. Our class discussion will help us make sense of the last decade in American politics—and suggest where things may be headed from here.
Image: United States Capitol, Washington DC, October 31, 2019, Pierre Blanché via Flickr.
Matthew Continetti on the future of American conservatism.
This course was part of our residential Political Studies Program. Fellows participate in morning seminars and meet prominent men and women in public life over afternoon and evening sessions.
Matthew Continetti is resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Prior to joining AEI, he was Editor in Chief of the Washington Free Beacon. His articles and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.
Matthew Continetti is resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on American political thought and history, with a particular focus on the development of the Republican Party and the American conservative movement in the 20th century. He is the founding editor The Washington Free Beacon and was Editor in Chief until 2019. Prior to joining the Beacon, he was Opinion Editor of The Weekly Standard, where he remained a Contributing Editor until 2018.
The author of The K Street Gang: The Rise and Fall of the Republican Machine (Doubleday, 2006), Continetti’s articles and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post.
A 2003 graduate of Columbia University, where he majored in history, Continetti lives in McLean, Virginia.
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Matthew Continetti
Matthew Continetti is resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Prior to joining AEI, he was Editor in Chief of the Washington Free Beacon. His articles and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.
Daniel DiSalvo
Daniel DiSalvo is a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute’s Center for State and Local Leadership and an Assistant Professor of Political Science at The City College of New York-CUNY. His scholarship focuses on American political parties, elections, labor unions, state government, and public policy.