Centrist Democrats need a 2020 reality check before it's too late (Cas Mudde)

[lapucelle]

3. Cas Mudde is the academic who argues that there's no real difference

between the populist right and the populist left.

Populism, he says, is a flexible ideology, which combines with a “host” that can either be “on the left or right,” but is characterized fundamentally by anti-elitism. Populists, according to these terms, see society as “ultimately separated into two homogeneous and antagonistic groups,” consisting of “the pure people” and “the corrupt elite.” This dichotomy forms the basis of a populist worldview, framing politics as an expression of the “general will” and offering little ground for pluralism.

In attempting to develop this approach, populists are “moralistic rather than programmatic,” preferring to demonize opponents than to debate them on policy terms. Moreover, they are prone to illegitimately personalizing the political sphere, rather than engaging in its modern complexities.

That certainly helps to explain the Sanders to Trump voters in WI, MI, and PA and moronic Jill Stein voters like bribri.

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