Theorising populism in democratic societies
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Theorising populism in democratic societies Nadia Urbinati: Me the People: How Populism Transforms Democracy, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2019 266 pp, ISBN: 9780674240889 Sarah Cameron1
© Springer Nature Limited part of Springer Nature 2020
Nadia Urbinati’s Me the People provides an in-depth, theoretical examination of populism. She focusses on populism in its twenty-first century manifestation within democratic societies. Her overarching thesis is that populism transforms democracy, by elevating one part of the population over the others. Although a theoretical work, she draws upon examples of contemporary populist parties and leaders from Europe, the USA and Latin America. Across the book’s four main chapters, she unpacks the mechanisms through which populism transforms democracy. In the first chapter “From Antiestablishment to Antipolitics”, Urbinati examines the role of “antiestablishmentarianism” in populism. She describes anti-elite sentiments as an inherent part of democratic societies that populism has drawn upon. Within populism, anti-elite sentiment is directed at the political establishment, including political parties and established politicians, rather than economic elites. It is holding political power that corrupts elites. Urbinati argues that this leads to a paradox, as populists, while railing against the political establishment, risk becoming the establishment themselves when gaining power. Populism therefore does not seek to exclude all elites, rather it endeavours to institute a new kind of elite based on the “good” part of society. The second chapter “The True People and Its Majority” analyses how populism transforms two important concepts for understanding democratic politics, “the people” and “the majority”. Urbinati argues that while a democratic understanding of “the people” should incorporate all citizens, its populist interpretation separates the “true people” from the others and thus populism is not a politics of all the citizens, but rather that of a part of society. Moreover, while the majority in democracy is a means for determining election winners, and can change from election to election, within populism the majority is seen as the “true people” and is thus a more
* Sarah Cameron [email protected] 1
The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia Vol.:(0123456789)
S. Cameron
permanent category. Populism therefore seeks to elevate one part of society above the others. In the third chapter “The Leader beyond Parties”, Urbinati demonstrates the unique manifestation of leadership under populism. Within populism, the collective is represented by the figure of the leader. She contrasts a mandate representation of electoral democracy, based around advocacy of interests and ideas, with an embodiment representation of populism, where the leader represents “the people”. The leader does not represent all the people but the part considered the “true” and “good” people, excluding various marginalised groups. The fourth chapter “Direct Representation” examines how po
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