Quotes About Populism

Donald Trump could win the presidency without a popular-vote majority only because both parties have been locked into base-turnout strategies that are partially responsible for our government's ineffectiveness and gridlock.

In a world where authoritarianism of the left or right is a very real possibility, the question of whether ordinary people can govern themselves by consent is still on trial--as it always has been, and always will be. Beyond parliamentary democracy as we know it, we shall have to find a new popular democracy to replace it.

In these troubled times we live in, we should remain vigilant and see through populist arguments.

Having given up the effort to raise the general level of competence—the old meaning of democracy—we are content to institutionalize competence in the caring class, which arrogates to itself the job of looking out for everybody else. Populism, as I understand it, is unambiguously committed to the

I don't believe that all folks who supported Donald Trump are racist. I think that there was a lot of economic anxiety, there was a lot of economic panic. A lot of deep-rooted economic insecurity. I think what Trump did, you know, very astutely, was he tapped into this vein, and he promised them a job.

This work is either useless or harmful, because there is nothing good about populism. If you wanted to hear my opinion on this issue, that is what I think.

The reality of America is mass-market stupidity.

We now live in the era of fake consensus, or phoney populism, a condition in which galleries and homes are seen to succeed best where they manage feelings of non-difference.

There's never been an era absent of demagogues.

It should be clear to everyone what happens when the populists can set the agenda.

Free ponies for all Americans!

De ce accept?m s? coabit?m cu mîrlanii, cu guja?ii, cu escrocii, cu nesim?i?ii? De ce?!!! Democra?ie f?r? discriminare moral? e populism, adic? contrariul spiritului civil. (...) Canaliile, pro?tii, ignarii, scandalagii, inep?ii au devenit deodat?, cu to?ii, din vina noastr?, a civiliza?iilor, frecventabili. E aberant, e complet gre?it. Cu derbedeii nu te înso?e?ti, darmite s? te înh?itezi.

The most successful politician is he who says what everybody is thinking most often and in the loudest voice. Theodore Roosevelt

Donald Trump is Dumbfuckistan incarnate. Just as Sarah Palin was its head cheerleader, Trump is its star quarterback. It was hardly surprising that she showed up in Iowa to endorse him, delivering a speech that made her sound like a drunken stroke victim. They made quite a pair, standing on stage: the unstoppable farce meets the unshameable object. Trump

Charismatic rule has long been neglected and ridiculed, but apparently it has deep roots and becomes a powerful stimulus once the proper psychological and social conditions are set. The Leader's charismatic power is not a mere phantasm – none can doubt that millions believe in it.' Franz Neumann, 1942

Hitler was frank about the need to focus all energy on one goal, on attacking a single enemy to avoid fragmentation and disunity. 'The art of all great popular leaders,' he proclaimed, 'consisted at all times in concentrating the attention of the masses on a single enemy.

Catering to populist anger with extremist proposals that are certain to fail is not a viable strategy for political success.

Trump represents a vibrant and fed-up mass of people who see the Republican Party as standing for nothing, so they have turned to someone who can beat the party by standing for anything.

What's going on for half the country? Who's lost out? The victims of elitist agenda; standing up for them, being a voice for them. That's the idea behind positive populism, that's what drives the content.

The word 'populism' was everywhere in 2016. Political leaders claiming to speak for the people have achieved significant victories in Europe, Asia, and, with the election of Donald Trump, the United States.

The people have always some champion whom they set over them and nurse into greatness... this and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears, he is a protector.

No, we should not be afraid of the populists; we should embrace those they are fighting.

A populist feeding anger and fear is more likely to get elected.

The Trump Administration has managed to highlight the two least attractive aspects of American conservatism: an angry and resentful populism, and a smug and clueless plutocracy. It's an impressive feat. -- Republican pundit William Kristol