AMU1326 Assignment: Causes and Consequences of Populist Leaders

This essay delves into the rise of populist leaders, examining the factors contributing to their emergence and the wide-ranging consequences of their actions. The essay begins by defining populism and identifying prominent populist figures like Donald Trump, exploring the philosophical underpinnings of the ideology, including its emphasis on the 'silent majority' versus the elite, and its tendencies towards authoritarianism, nativism, and anti-establishment sentiments. The essay then investigates the causes of populism, considering institutional rules, party strategies, and voter behavior. It highlights socioeconomic inequalities, cultural backlash, and immigration as key drivers, referencing historical perspectives and comparative explanations. The consequences of populism are also explored, including the impact on democratic institutions, the erosion of checks and balances, and the rise of discrimination and xenophobia. The essay concludes by emphasizing the need for citizen-centered decision-making, the rule of law, and the protection of all citizens' rights to mitigate the negative impacts of populism.

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Transformation from Above: Globalization
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We have seen a rise of populist leaders in recent times. Debate the causes and
consequences of this phenomenon.
Introduction
Populist leaders such as Donald Trump, Norbert Hoffer, Geert Wilders, and Marine Le
Pen, are becoming increasingly popular all over the world. These populist leaders have gained
extensive recognition to represent the citizens in government coalitions of eleven Western
democracies such as in Switzerland, Italy and Australia. There are many definitions seeking to
explain the concept of populism. According to Cas Mudde, populism is a philosophical thought
that is centered across authoritarianism, nativism, and anti-establishment (Mudde, 2016, p.25). It
seeks to address the virtue of wisdom and faith among the ordinary people who are commonly
referred to as the silent majority, against the elite and corrupt establishments. Populism ideas
resent the existing state of affairs and authorities whether elected politicians, multinational
corporations, media pundits, intellectual and scientific experts, and government officials. The
ordinary people are the inherent and homogenous good and the elites are viewed as dishonest.
Populism has the tendencies to evoke authoritarian leanings and support personal power that is
displayed by a charismatic and able leader that as though to represent the will of the people.
Additionally, populism ideologies tend to emphasize on xenophobic nationalism and nativism,
and that the state has the obligation to discriminate people from other states, religion, and
culture. It favors mono-culturalism over multi-culturalism, national self-interest over
international cooperation, closed borders against the free flow of people, and conservatism over
progressive and liberal mindedness (McDonnell, 2016, pp.725). US president, Donald Trump
populism rhetoric is a mixture of national isolation, misogyny and sexism, attack-dog politics,
intolerance of multi-culturalism, racial, and anti-muslimism, and strong-man leadership appeal.

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Populism is, therefore, a basic way of denoting these tendencies that may equally be categorized
as xenophobic authoritarianism.
Perhaps one of the commonest reflections of populism ideology is in the 2016
presidential election in the US. It still baffles many how a political neophyte and polarizing
figure such as Donald Trump surged to become the holder of the highest office in the US.
Donald Trump has been critically challenged by conservatism including Jeb Bush, George Will,
and Elizabeth Warren. His rhetoric signifies a xenophobic attack on minorities such as the
Mexicans and Muslims and purports a conspiracy theory about his critics. Trump populism is
based on the notion that he is not from D.C, and he is commanding an insurgency movement on
part of the ordinary American citizens, who are revolting against incompetent politicians, corrupt
institutions, and arrogant literates. Donald Trump angry outbursts and nativist comments fit the
description of populist leaders who have gained tremendous support in the western democracies.
populist parties have gained a huge support base in the last decade, gaining political seats and
holding the spectrum of power (Norris and Inglehart, 2016, pp.15). Such parties include the
Swedish Democrats, Greece Golden dawn, Australian Freedom party, and Swiss people’s Party.
Populist leaders in Latin America represent the economic part of the political institutions and
they include; Hugo Chaves, Evo Morales of Bolivia, and Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela. Populist
parties can exert significant influence through a few votes. The UK Independence Party in
Britain, for example, acquired just one seat in the general elections of 2015, but fueled populist
rhetoric of anti-immigration and anti-European, pushing the UK conservatives to call for Brexit
referendum. The consequences of Britain massive EU exit have been enormous, leading to the
resignation of prime minister Theresa May, deep financial crisis, hate speeches against

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immigrants (Corbett, 2016, pp.16). There were also calls by populist parties in the region to call
for referenda for other members in Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and France.
The late 20th century has a significant resurgence on the popularity of populism. What
explains the cause in the rise of populist leaders? Observers have been offering historical
perspectives that focus on certain circumstances and events to account for the rise of populism
(Mudde, 2013, pp.6). For example, American observers account that the rise of Donald Trump of
the Republican party is a racist reaction to the election and re-election of former president
Barrack Obama. It is also thought to have been caused by the Tea party influencing the
Republican party style of leadership to the gridlock of partisan, with trump replacing Sarah Palin.
Similarly, Brexit has been said to be facilitated by the decision of David Cameron to instigate
referendum to please the Euro-skeptics members in his party.
The comparative explanations on the causes of populism can be best explained under the
categories of the institutional rule of the game, that regulate party competition through; type of
electoral systems, political finance regulations, and electoral laws. The second category is the
supply-side that explain the decisions of party leaders to push for either populistic or ideological
appeals (Pappas, 2016, pp.382). The last category is the demand-side that argues,voters are
driven in their decision by such factors as economic inequality and cultural changes as a result of
changing cultural values.
Populism has long been argued to reflect socioeconomic inequalities in societies. In the
years the 1950s and 1960s, political sociology scholars Daniel Bell and Seymour Martin tried to
explain fascism in the US, Germany, and France. They were each seen as authoritative
movements fighting modernity with support mainly coming from bourgeoisie (farmers, small

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scale entrepreneur’s, merchants, artisans) squeezed by the big businesses (Hawkins, Read and
Pauwels, 2017, pp.270). These movements were catalyzed by the fear of downward mobility and
the insecurity of losing out on the industrial revolution. In the 21st decade, there has been
stagnation and decline of income among the many individuals despite the growing economy
(Mudde, 2014, pp.220). The economic gains largely benefit a small percentage of the population
who are viewed as the elite in society. Economic inequality has facilitated outsourcing and
offshoring, automation, globalization, dismantling of blue-collar unions, the rise of knowledge
economy and limitation of the government in regulating the investment decisions of
multinational corporations (Kriesi, 2014, pp.375). These factors have directly influenced the rise
of populism, which signifies the division between the beneficiaries and losers of the global
markets. The vulnerability of the modern economy has cemented the conducive rise of solidarity
among the losers, and the group seeks strong authoritative leaders to shield them from their
perceived invading immigrants who are seen as threatening their benefits.
The cultural backlash perspective explains the cause of populism and populism support as
being a direct result of a social psychological attribute that reflects purposely on the older
citizens initiating a barricade against cultural changes (Elchardus and Spruyt, 2016, pp.125).
According to this factor, the support for populist leaders is high among those individuals that
hold traditional values and norms, among them the older generation and the less-educated people
who feel that they have been alienated by the progressive changes in the way of life.
Populism has additionally contributed to the hostile and intolerant treatment of
immigrants, racial minorities, refugees, asylum seekers and expatriates working in the western
world. Some scholars also tie populism to immigration and multiculturalism. According to Betz,
the rise of populist parties is as a result of the rising number of immigrants and the failure of the

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relevant bodies in curbing these numbers through effective policies. The rise of radical wing
populist parties in Europe has been linked with high number of immigrants and refugees seeking
a better life in western societies (Stavrakakis, Katsambekis, Kioupkiolis, Nikisianis and Siomos,
2018, pp.16). The populist leaders maximize the cultural backlash by channeling resistance
through slogans such as Trump’s “make America Great Again.” This has appealed significantly
to the older generation reminiscing the less diverse America, the US was unrivaled in Western
powers and there were no threats of terrorism. Similarly, the Brexit campaign relates to the time
when the Westminster parliament was independent, the society encompassed mainly of white
Anglo-Saxon and Britain was a major military and economic powerhouse leading the
commonwealth (Akkerman, Mudde and Zaslove, 2014, pp.1335). Similar messages are being
echoed by other populist leaders such nostalgic moments relate mostly with the older citizens
who have experienced the changes and this provokes anger, political dissatisfaction, and
resentment
Populism also has significant consequences for the operation of states. This is purposely
because populist leaders do not hide the fact that they want to change the political systems to
give more power to the ‘true’ citizens. Populist leaders attack their critics and label them as
illegitimate cartels, or rivals who failed in winning the election. Populist leaders have been found
to stay longer in the office than their democratic counterparts. For example, many pundits ruled
that Donald Trump would not finish his term in office. However, Trump is still in office and his
government is making significant political change in the US.
Populist leaders are more likely to damage the institution of democracy in a country. The
polity 4 database is a system that is used to measure the levels of democracy in a country. The
scale of measurement ranges from -10 to 10, with the measurement of below 6 considered a non-

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democratic state. For instance, when Hugo Chaves become the president of Venezuela in 1998,
the country democratic score was at 8, and when he died in 2013, it had drastically fallen to -4.
About 24 percent of populist leaders who are elected to the office, facilitate democratic
backsliding (Houle and Kenny, 2018, pp.276). Therefore, populism is 4 times more likely to
damage the institutions than a non-populism government. right-wing populist leaders hold the
ideology that the state and instruments of power should be at the native group (nativism) (Bos,
Van Der Brug and De Vreese, 2013, pp.200). Left-wing populist leaders, on the other hand,
propose a social inclusivity idea aimed at addressing the effects of capitalism. Both of these
spectra of populist leaders initiate change that alters the status-quo of democracy.
Populism has also been found to alter the instruments of power by eroding the checks and
balances. Populist leaders hold the fallacy that they are the custodians of the will of the people,
making it prudent for them to manipulate constitutional constraints that limit their power. Left-
wing populist explains that the current legal order favors the elite, while the right-wing populist
maintains that the rules entrench the intellectuals and civil society offering an advantage to the
outsiders. This empowers the populist leader to undermine constitutional bodies such as the
judiciary, that is tasked with checks and balances. Over 50 percent of populist leaders have been
successful in amending the constitution to favor their ideologies. Majority of populist leaders are
implicated in corruption charges. This is very ironic, as corruption is among the factors that bring
populist leaders to power but they end up often more corrupt than the previous regimes.
Conclusion
From the foregone, the majority of European societies have witnessed the growing need
for self-expression among the new generations and the educated cohorts in society. Such shifts in

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the culture have facilitated greater approval for social tolerance, multiculturalism, protection of
fundamental freedoms and democratic governance. However, it has received cultural backlash
among the citizens who feel that these new trends threaten the status quo of society. The less
educated individuals and the majority of the white older generations, who were once the
privileged majority, feel like they are being marginalized in their own country and this has
resulted in the rise of populist leadership. Populism has been found to negatively impact the
society through negative consequences such as democracy backsliding, erosion of the checks and
balances that constitutionally limit the exploitation of leadership and executive instruments and
increase discrimination, xenophobic attacks and unfair treatment of the marginalized groups in
the society. In this regard, I recommend that countries all over the world should communicate
and implement key decision making in a citizen-centered manner by incorporating the views of
the citizens. Additionally, there is the need to foster the rule of law and ensure every citizen right
is protected against discrimination, regardless of their race, ethnic, sexual or religious
affiliations. The states should also promote a bold political vision for a brighter future. Lastly, I
recommend open and inclusive public debate on issues affecting the people.

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Bibliography.
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populist attitudes in voters. Comparative political studies, 47(9), pp.1324-1353.
Bos, L., Van Der Brug, W. and De Vreese, C.H., 2013. An experimental test of the impact of
style and rhetoric on the perception of right-wing populist and mainstream party leaders. Acta
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Corbett, S., 2016. The social consequences of Brexit for the UK and Europe: Euroscepticism,
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Elchardus, M. and Spruyt, B., 2016. Populism, persistent republicanism and declinism: An
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Hawkins, K., Read, M. and Pauwels, T., 2017. Populism and its causes. The Oxford handbook of
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Kriesi, H., 2014. The populist challenge. West European Politics, 37(2), pp.361-378.
McDonnell, D., 2016. Populist leaders and coterie charisma. Political Studies, 64(3), pp.719-733.
Mudde, C., 2013. Three decades of populist radical right parties in Western Europe: So
what?. European Journal of Political Research, 52(1), pp.1-19.

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Mudde, C., 2014. Fighting the system? Populist radical right parties and party system
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Mudde, C., 2016. Europe's populist surge: A long time in the making. Foreign Aff., 95, p.25.
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