What Is Populism

(Paperback)

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Essential reading on one of the most important phenomena of our time from a remarkable political thinker From Donald Trump to Viktor Orban, populists are on the rise across the globe. But what exactly is populism Should everyone who criticizes Wall Street or Washington be called a populist What precisely is the difference between right-wing and left-wing populism Who are "the people" anyway and who can speak in their name These questions have never been more pressing. In this provocative book, Jan-Werner M ller argues that at populism's core is a rejection of pluralism. Populists will always claim that they and they alone represent the people and their true interests. Proposing a number of concrete strategies for how liberal democrats should best deal with populists, M ller shows how to counter their claims to speak exclusively for "the silent majority".

Reviews

This lucid guide is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand leaders such as Trump and Chvez * Guardian *
An excellent short book -- Timothy Garton Ash * New York Review of Books *
In this essential book, Mller defines populism's most salient characteristics --antielitism, antipluralism, exclusivity -- and explains Trump and other populists through that framework. It is a quick read, and worth every page * Washington Post *
Populism is not just antiliberal, it is antidemocratic -- the permanent shadow of representative politics. That's Jan-Werner Mller's argument in this brilliant book. There is no better guide to the populist passions of the present -- Ivan Krastev, author of After Europe
No one has written more insightfully and knowledgeably about Europe's recent democratic decay than Jan-Werner Mller. His depiction of populism as democracy's antipluralist, moralistic shadow is masterful -- Dani Rodrik, Harvard University
An exceptionally intelligent book about a notoriously slippery, yet essential, political concept. Jan-Werner Mller's sweeping critique of populism will both instruct and challenge anyone who seeks to understand the roots and nature of the political conflicts that are roiling Europe and the United States -- Michael Kazin, author of The Populist Persuasion: An American History

Author Bio

Jan-Werner M ller is Professor of Politics at Princeton University and the author of several books, most recently Contesting Democracy- Political Ideas in Twentieth Century Europe. He contributes regularly to London Review of Books, the Guardian, and the New York Review of Books.