LECTURE 9 ‘EXTREMISM, POPULISM AND (MIS)INFORMATION’ Flashcards
Structural explanation of populism
= Economic and cultural protection seeking hypothesis
Cultural explanation of populism
- Extremist populism in relation to the civic cultures of democracy – in particular, its values,
identities, and practices. Populism must be understood in relation to fundamental tensions inherent within democracy itself. - Can be explained by identity, values and cultural norms.
- Populist movements often arise when there is rapid cultural change (globalization, immigration etc.). This can lead to the feeling of losing traditional values and culture.
how you can see populism
2 homologies
2 homologies: the red axes in the middle
- singular political leader with unique capacity to
understand and represent the homogeneous people,
‘the people.’ - The elite is the connection between the elite and the outsider. The enemy of populism. Rule of law
vs rule of man –> clashes a lot. Because the elite want equality for everyone. No discrimination.
how you can see populism
4 antagonists
4 antagonists: To understand the populism you need 4 elements:
a. The populist (like Trump or Wilders)
b. The elite (American congress) is the enemy of populism. They want equality (rule of law)
c. The people (the population) – in-group
d. The other/outsider (Mexican emigrants) – out-group
populism: You create 4 conflicts
- Populist vs elite –
- elite vs the people –
- people vs the other – the other is the enemy of the people, they cannot mix with the in-group because
for example of the cultural differences. Newcomers are not welcome (wilders vs Marokanen/Islam,
trump vs mexicanen). - the other vs the populist – the populist would say that the others should not have the same rights as
the people. A different treatment. US (favoritism) vs THEM
Populism, extremism, and media
- Individualization of civic cultures
- Growth of mediated populism through the use of new E-technologies
- Personalization of politics and in the public domain
- New media technologies less successful in promoting democratic values
Mediatisation
- Politicians adapt their messages to media-logic, news values, newsroom routines and journalistic culture.
- Sensationalism: politics as a ‘spectacle’
- Focus on individuals/agency, instead of structure.
- Affective journalism of ‘tabloids’: emotions instead of facts
- Events presented without context and explanatory frame.
- Media play a particular role in spreading fear and cultivating perceptions of threat.
Mudde: opinion
: Populism is a symptom of a democratic deficit, not the cause
Mudde on populism
- Key problem: many people still support central idea of liberal democracy, but no longer support/trust
established liberal democratic parties and politicians. - Rise in right-wing populism: Global economic crisis leading to higher levels of inequality between North
and South, East and West Europe, with revival of stereotypes about ‘others’.
Cause of populism
The global economic crisis, increasing inequality within and between nations and accompanying antiimmigrant sentiments.
Declining prosperity and opportunity
- Lower- and middle-class prosperity is on the decline due to globalization and neo-liberal austerity
measures dismantling the welfare state. - Lower and middle economic strata are offered less and less socio-economic protection.
- Opportunities are shrinking due to outsourcing to countries with cheap labor and via automation home.
New media and the ‘civic space’
→ Important to understand the mediated structures of opportunity or ‘affordances’ that new technologies (social networking sites, podcasts, blogs, open-source software and wikis) offer ordinary citizens to engage in and experience the ‘lifeworld’.
Mediated populism
- New media creates an ‘increasingly individualized civic environment’ in which public engagement is a
personal experience, not a collective affair. - This results in a blurring of private and public sphere, as well as obfuscate professional and private life.
- Loneliness as a driver of populism
- form of populism that relies heavily on mass media, especially digital media, to mobilize and communicate with supporters
What will impact participation and orientations in western democracies?
→ Sociodemographic trends such as rising individualism, aging societies, shrinking social networks and widespread loneliness will impact the political participation and orientations in western democracies.
“Involuntary celibate’’
= Someone unable to develop romantic or sexual relationships despite desiring one.
Incels
The male-only online spaces where young man blame their problems on women,
promoting a hateful and violent ideology. (Incels are member of an online community of young men who
consider themselves unable to attract women and used the internet to find anonymous support).
Perception of social hierarchy, based on a sense of oppression or status deprivation:
- Exclusive identity politics = Exclusive concerns are related to outside factors, which affect one’s attitude such as immigration and economic concerns.
- Inclusive identity politics = Inclusive concerns are associated with an individual’s pride for his identity
- Identity politics = A political approach wherein people of a particular race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social background, social class, or other identifying factors develop political agendas that are based upon these identities.
Populism: key points
- An idealized sense of historical nation and (often ethnic) community (the ‘people’)
- A critical stance towards ‘the elites’/
- An ideology which pits a virtuous and homogenous people against a set of elites and dangerous
“others” who are together depicted as depriving (or attempting to deprive) the sovereign people of
their rights, values, prosperity, identity and voice).
Some characteristics of populists
- Singular leader with unique capacity to understand and represent the homogeneous people.
- Populists claim to personally embody the direct expression of the popular will, thereby negating societal
and political plurality of interests. - Populists reject representative democracy and its intermediary institutions (trade unions and interest
groups) and detest mechanisms for interest mediation, negotiation consensus-building and
compromise, expert advice, legal and bureaucratic procedures, and the traditional press. They all
‘distort and obstruct’ the true, direct, and uncorrupted expression of the will of the people by the
leader
Traditional elite defends the rule of law and minority rights
For populists, traditional elites protect ‘outsiders’ (minorities) at the expense of the native, majority population by emphasizing constitutional guarantees of equality before the law, universal rights and freedoms and due process.
→ This ‘ideology of equality’ undermines the safety, well-being and perhaps even survival of the ‘real people’ as they insufficiently ‘protect’ the ‘majority homogeneous people’ against undeserving and predatory outsiders or intruders. (Like ‘the people’, also outsiders and the elite are all represented as homogeneous groups)
Rule of law vs. rule of man
This ‘rule of man’ instead of the rule of law creates a conflict between legitimacy (the claim of populists to represent the people) and legality (the claim of the elites that populists violate constitutional and other legal norms and rules).
Populist versus elite
- Mudde: Populism is reactive, it’s support is based on resentment.
- Populism is in its core an anti-establishment movement.
Anti-establishment movement = A rejection of the entire economic establishment, cultural elite, academia and
‘political class’.
- For populists, the entire establishment is recruited through the same corrupt mechanisms, and they are
all part of one corrupt system that betrays the will of the people.
Does conspiracy beliefs predict a range of concrete health and well being outcomes?
- They are associated with a myriad of negative life outcomes in the long run
- Covid-19 conspiracy beliefs showed
- A decreased likelihood of getting tested for corona
- If tested, an increased likelihood of the test coming out positive
- an increased likelihood of hanving violated corona regulations
- Deteriorated economic outcomes –> job loss, loss of income
- Experiences of social rejection and decreased overall well being
Strong conceptual overlap between populist attitudes and conspiracy belief
→ Both populist movements and conspiracy beliefs have been on the rise over the past 20 years.
The link between the two is anti-elite attitudes.
A political mentality that construes society as an eternal struggle between “the corrupt elites” versus “the noble
people.”
→ An ideology which pits a virtuous and homogenous people against a set of elites and dangerous “others” who are together depicted as depriving (or attempting to deprive) the sovereign people of their rights, values, prosperity, identity and voice)
