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A really good article by @ProfTimBale and @JakeTW91 on populism as a phenomenon *within* parties- and what this means for our democracy. [Subscription required] Short thread follows... 1/9 journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.117…
2. As the authors show, populism works by mobilising "the people" - pure, virtuous & incorruptible - against an "elite", who work to frustrate & subvert the popular will. A single leader commonly emerges as the embodiment of "the people", who fights for them against their enemies
3. Populism thrives on conspiracy theories (which is why it tips so readily into anti-Semitism). Populists build their power by identifying "enemies of the people", who plot behind the scenes to subvert the popular will. Opponents are thus recast as enemies of democracy itself.
4. That phenomenon is currently strongest on the Right: from the Mail screaming about "traitors" & "saboteurs" to Trump denouncing CNN as "enemies of the people" to Orban's war against Soros. But as the authors show, it has also reshaped the internal politics of the Labour Party.
5. Corbynism pits a pure & virtuous "people" - the membership - against a corrupt & devious elite in Parliament. It thrives on conspiracy theories, conjuring cabals of "Blairites" & "Centrists", who seek desperately to "smear" the incorruptible champion of the people, 
6. From this perspective, to defend "Jeremy" is to defend democracy itself. To quote John McDonnell, "We will not allow the democracy of our movement to be subverted by a handful of MPs". That vision of democracy is sincerely held, but its implications go far beyond Labour.
7. In pitting "a handful of MPs" against "the democracy of our movement", McDonnell allows no room for the democracy of the constituencies that elected them. It reduces MPs to private individuals, whose mandate comes from the party membership and not from the wider electorate.
8. Ironically, a politics that champions "the people" against "elites" ends up creating a new privileged class, by vesting disproportionate power in party members. It strips the electorate of power and - by silencing dissenting MPs - reduces the plurality of voices in Parliament.
9. In short: populism does not mean "more democracy". It means a particular vision of democracy, that's fundamentally different to parliamentary democracy. We need a serious debate about whether that's a good thing. And if we believe in parliamentarism, we need to defend it.[END]
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