From the European Journal of Political Theory, Fabio Wolkenstein (Frankfurt): Populism, Liberal Democracy, and the Ethics of Peoplehood. Shaun Bowler (UC-Riverside), David Denemark (Western Australia), Todd Donovan (Western Washington), and Duncan McDonnell (Griffith): Right-Wing Populist Party Supporters: Dissatisfied but Not Direct Democrats. John Judis on us v them, the birth of populism: It’s not about Left or Right — populism is a style of politics that pits “the people” against “the establishment” and its rise is a warning sign that the status quo is failing. Jonathan Alter reviews The Populist Explosion: How the Great Recession Transformed American and European Politics by John B. Judis (and more). Beyond liberalism: John Milbank and Adrian Pabst on defining a new centre ground of Western politics. Ross Douthat is among the post-liberals: The Western order finds internal critics. Liberal internationalists have to own up: We left too many people behind.
What’s behind a rise in ethnic nationalism? Maybe the economy. Ronald J. Granieri on exceptionalism, empire, and the dark side of national greatness. Joseph E. Stiglitz on how Trump happened. Richard Seymour on the globalization of Donald Trump. Donald Trump may be a threat to global democracy, experts warn. Martin Wolf on how the west might soon be lost: Under a President Trump, democracy would lose credibility as a model for a civilised political life. Nathan Pippenger on the revolution that gave us Trump: What would Tocqueville say about the Donald? Alexander Nazaryan on getting close to fascism with Sinclair Lewis’s It Can’t Happen Here. It could happen here: Democracy is facing setbacks around the world, but there hasn’t been reason to doubt America’s resilience — until now. Donald Trump can’t undermine American democracy because it barely even exists — and anyway, we’ve survived far more serious threats than this loathsome joker in the past.
He’ll likely lose — but Trump is the final warning to elites.
