Understanding Populism
Understand the resurgence of populism in America.
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.
Faculty
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.
Matthew Continetti
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.
Download the Full Syllabus
Preview the Syllabus by Week/Session
Session I: Points of Origin
Readings:
- John B. Judis, Introduction, The Politics of Our Time, pp. 15–42
- Perry Anderson, “History and Lessons of Neoliberalism,” from The Other Davos (Zed Books, 2001)
- Daniel Bell, Preface & Ch. 12, The Winding Passage: Essays and Sociological Journeys 1960–1980 (Abt Books, 1980)
- Ronald Reagan, “Remarks Announcing Candidacy for Republican Party Nomination,” November 13, 1979
- Ross Douthat, Introduction, The Decadent Society (Simon & Schuster, 2021)
Discussion Questions:
- According to Perry Anderson, what problems did neoliberalism set out to solve? Was it successful?
- What problems does the post-industrial society create for liberalism, neo-or otherwise?
- How does President Reagan’s announcement speech exemplify neoliberal approaches to public policy?
- How does Ross Douthat define decadence? Is he right that contemporary
American society is a decadent society?
Session II: Populism
Readings:
- John B. Judis, The Politics of Our Time, pp. 43–111
- Christopher Caldwell, “What Is Populism?” Claremont Review of Books (Fall 2018)
- Walter Russell Mead, “The Jacksonian Revolt,” Foreign Affairs (March/April 2017)
- Jeffrey Bell, “The Rise of Values Politics,” in Populism & Elitism (Regnery, 1992)
Discussion Questions:
- How does Caldwell define populism?
- How does Jacksonian populism fit into Caldwell’s framework?
- Why, according to Bell, did the American elite became increasingly pessimistic in its political and cultural outlook during the 1960s?
- Is populism compatible with neoliberalism?
Session III: Nationalism
Readings:
- John B. Judis, The Politics of Our Time, pp.181–236; 267–93
- Christopher DeMuth, “The Nation Is the Heart of the Matter,” Law & Liberty, April 2022
- President Donald Trump, “Address in Warsaw,” July 6, 2017
- President Joe Biden, “Remarks on the United Efforts of the Free World to Support the
People of Ukraine,” March 26, 2022
Discussion Questions:
- In DeMuth’s view, what can other nations learn from the national self-determination of Ukraine?
- What defines a nation, according to President Trump?
- How might nationalism come into conflict with neoliberalism?
- Compare and contrast President Trump’s defense of Polish nationalism with
President Biden’s defense of Ukrainian democracy? Could the same arguments be made on behalf of both nations?
Session IV: Socialism
Readings:
- John B. Judis, The Politics of Our Time, pp.297–360, 383–94
- Don McIntosh, “Talking Socialism: Interviewing Jacobin’s Bhaskar Sunkara,” DSOA, June 18, 2021
- Tara Golshan, “Read: Bernie Sanders defines his vision for democratic socialism in the United States,” Vox, June 12, 2019
- Yoram Hazony, “The Challenge of Marxism,” Quillette, August 16, 2020
- Christopher Caldwell, “The Biden Popular Front Is Doomed to Unravel,” The New Republic, November 23, 2020
Discussion Questions:
- What does Sanders mean by socialism? Is his definition like Sunkara’s?
- What does Judis mean by “shadow socialism”?
- Do income levels determine class affiliation? How might class identity and national (or sub-national) identity relate to one another?
- What made Caldwell argue that Biden’s popular front (composed of progressives, moderate Democrats, and even some anti-Trump Republicans) was doomed to fail?
Session V: Post-Liberalism & Beyond
Readings:
- Patrick J. Deneen, “Unsustainable Liberalism,” First Things (August 2012)
- Samuel Moyn, “Neoliberalism, Not Liberalism, Has Failed,” Commonweal, December 3,
2018 - Nathan Schlueter, “Sustainable Liberalism,” Public Discourse, December 7, 2012
- Cathy Young, “Reports of Liberalism’s Death—A Reply to Hazony,” Quillette, September 16, 2020
- Perry Anderson, “Why the System Will Still Win.” Le Monde (March 2017)
- Various, “Away from the Abyss,” Compact (March 2022)
- Stephen Kotkin, “The Cold War Never Ended,” Foreign Affairs (May/June 2022)
- David Brooks, “Globalization Is Over,” The New York Times, April 8, 2022
Discussion Questions:
- How does Deneen define liberalism? Is his liberalism the same as neoliberalism? What are the similarities and differences between liberalism, neoliberalism, and progressivism?
- What, according to Schlueter, is the “healthy and proper form of liberalism,” and why should social conservatives embrace it?
- How does the war in Ukraine relate to the problems of neoliberalism?
- What is behind the collapse of globalization—i.e., of neoliberalism?
- Will the future be liberal, neoliberal, national populist, democratic socialist, or postliberal?
