So the People Will

Jan-Werner Müller: What is Populism?

A short and concise book on populism. Müller defines populism, discusses how populists govern, and lays out ways to confront populism. Relevant and enjoyable.

In a first chapter, Müller discusses how to best define populism, settling on a definition based on the political discourse employed by populists. He rejects to describe populism based on the quality of policies- it is often impossible to define what a good policy is- the socio-economic profile of voters- it is not only the economically disadvantaged who vote for populist parties- psychological characteristics of supporters- it is too easy to simply disqualify the supporters of populist parties as angry or authoritarian- or the self-description of parties as populist- the use of the label has varied widely over the years. Instead, Müllers employs features of populist discourse to define the phenomenon. Populists resort to a moralistic imagination of politics which puts a morally pure and unified people against corrupt elites. Populism is thus both anti-elitist and anti-pluralist. According to populist discourse, a singular popular will exists and can be discerned (1). It is only due to the corrupt elites who are in power that the popular will is not implemented. Populist leaders, on the contrary, have a superior ability to identify what the people want and implement their popular will.

In the second chapter, Müller investigates how populists govern once they are in power. He positions himself against the hypothesis that populist governance is necessarily bound to fail. Populist statecraft usually has three hallmarks: the colonialization of the state; mass clientelism, and the repression of civil society. Victor Orban's Fidesz Party in Hungary or Jaroslw Kaczynsky's Law and Order Party in Poland have, once in power, undertaken large scale efforts to install their followers in the media, the civil service and the judiciary. Mass clientelism means that populist leaders distribute material and immaterial favors to their followers. Finally, populists in power move against civil society, and often try to label NGOs as "foreign agents" opposed to the people. When in power, many populist leaders have also aimed for changes in their countries' constitutions. Müller uses the example of the Hungarian fundamental law- entered into force in 2012- to illustrate populist constitution-making. The constitution enshrines very specific policy preferences and the political opposition was largely excluded from the process of passing and drafting it. Other hallmarks of populist constitution are the strengthening of the executive, which usually goes hand in hand with the weakening of the other powers, particularly the judiciary. As seen in Venezuela, populist constitutions often set the ground for permanent political conflict, as the political opposition may, in spite of an uneven playing field, still win elections or gain representation. Müller also argues against the use of the term "illiberal democracy" for populist regimes, arguing that populism moves against some of the very fundamentals of democracy, such as freedom of speech. 

In the final chapter, Müller lays out his ideas on how to engage populists. He argues against refusing to engage them and in favor of taking the claim that parts of the population are not politically represented seriously. Müller joins others in constating a crisis of political representation. First, a new political cleavage has emerged, putting citizens favoring economic and cultural openness against those opposing it. Second, constitutions in Western Europe still mostly stem from the post-war period. In response to the experiences made with fascism earlier on, polities were crafted with the goal to "lock in" a commitment to liberal democracy. Parliamentary sovereignty was restricted and un-elected bodies such as constitutional courts, central banks, or the bodies of the newly created European Community were empowered. 

Overall an important, timely and very readable book on populism. Müller provides a clear definition of a concept which is as slippery as it is far-spread and important in current political discourse. His arguments come in handy for confronting the partisans of the populist parties which have found themselves strengthened throughout much of the Western world and beyond. Müller also lays the groundwork for a more in-depth empirical analysis of populism. As short and concise as this book is, its mere 100 pages, mostly located in the realm of political theory, unfortunately do not allow for the analysis of important issues, particularly the variety of real-world "populisms". Future empirical work could for instance investigate how populist rule differs between polities on different continents and at different stages of economic development.

(1) Müller contrasts the positions of early 20th century legal philosophers Carl Schmitt and Hans Kelsen on whether a popular will exists. Kelsen prominently argued that there is no such thing as a popular will, labelling it a "metapolitical illusion", as only electoral results are empirically verifiable. Carl Schmitt, on the contrary, gave an almost mythical notion of the popular will an important place in his work.