蠻貼合當下的議題，感謝分享。原版 “What Is Populism?” 在amazon上評分4星半，相當不錯了，從rating數量可以判斷這也是本暢銷書。發現有條review很有趣，對本書批判意味濃，信息量較大，也頗有特別的見地，複製上來供參考。
David Lindsay： Jan-Werner Müller is German and teaches politics at Princeton. Muller discusses populism and many of the leaders who have been described as populist in recent years. The list includes Trump, Erdogan, Wilders, Orban, Le Pen, Farage, and Chavez. Populism is defined in the Oxford dictionary as: "A political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups." Muller uses the term pejoratively. Ultimately, his book asks the question, whether the political elite should carry out the will of the people; or impose its own "superior" views on society. Muller seems to favor the latter and for some reason views this as the democratic option. Muller is a master of Orwellian doublethink. I have lived in the U.S. and Europe. I disagreed with most of his argument and his version of European history. Instead, I would recommend National Populism: The Revolt Against Liberal Democracy by two British academics, Roger Eatwell and Matthew Goodwin.
Populists are already in government in some way in six EU member states: The list includes Austria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, and Poland. Across the EU there are 11 populist parties with popular support above 20%, implying that the number of populist governments could roughly double.
Muller believes that we should fear populism, but he conflates the term with totalitarianism, which is a mistake. He believes that the end game for populists is a country that looks like Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union. Both countries elected leaders who became dictators. Lenin in 1917 and Hitler in 1933. Muller describes the playbook used by both men. They used lies and violence to take power and then crushed their opponents after they won control.
Muller ignores the reasons why populism has recently reemerged in the West. Free market policies have increased inequality and the working class is being left behind. Most people want immigration controls and they expected their governments to deliver. Instead, people have been told to get used to immigration and to focus on its benefits. The liberal elite seems to fear being accused of racism and they can see the benefits of cheap imported labor. My mother is retired and lives in Britain. She has employed Polish gardeners, plumbers, and decorators to remodel her house. She tells me they do a great job and are cheap. She wasn't too bothered about the local people she deprived of the work.
Muller is worried about Trump and Brexit and sees totalitarians everywhere. There are fears in the mainstream media about Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic going over to the dark side. I worked in Eastern Europe after the Soviet Union collapsed. These countries were occupied by the Nazis and then the Soviets and have fought to preserve their culture. The EU does not believe in national identity. Muller has unusual views about how democracy works. He seems to believe that the people should accept the policies handed down by technocratic elites because these people are experts and they are better qualified to make decisions. If the people reject their policies he regards them as populists and therefore anti-democratic. The European media has often labeled opponents of immigration as "far-right" or "neo-Nazi."
To summarize, Muller argues that populism threatens the very basis of democracy. It does so by undermining the idea of pluralism. He believes that populists claim to represent the people but they create their own elites once they obtain power, like the Nazis and Communists. He believes that populist parties are authoritarian and often have a supreme leader (e.g., Hitler, Lenin or Mao). Once ensconced in power, populist leaders find scapegoats to blame for problems that emerge: corrupt elites, saboteurs, the media, foreign meddlers and so on. They prepare the people for some kind of showdown with the alleged enemies of the people. Once in power, populist leaders destroy democratic norms to consolidate power and crush their critics, just as Hitler and Lenin did.
None of this seems applicable to the U.S. and UK. This is something Muller fails to grasp. Both countries rejected extremism during the Great Depression. The U.S. elected FDR while the Germans elected Adolf Hitler. Britain picked two moderates before ending up with Neville Chamberlain, a Conservative, who declared war on Hitler. Brexit is unlikely to lead to another Third Reich. Ironically, some Brexit supporters feared that the EU was turning into a Fourth Reich ruled by Germany. Müller has an obsession with Britain’s Nigel Farage and implies that he is a dictator in waiting, this is nonsense. Farage is a vocal and effective critic of the EU and a former commodities trader. Farage has made eight failed attempts to become a British member of parliament. Mature democracies should be able to handle robust debate and cope with people like Farage who use their right of free speech to question the political establishment.
Britain's political parties often started out as populist movements. The British Labour Party was created in 1893 because many in the working class did not believe their grievances were being properly addressed. It initially grew out of the trade union movement and the church. Its first leader was a lay preacher. New parties often emerge as society evolves. The Labour Party, despite its populist roots, has not produced any demagogic leaders and has not tried to overthrow democracy.
Muller is a true believer in the EU. The EU has a population of 510 million people and there are 28 member countries. Its long-term aim is to create a United States of Europe. It lacks America's homogenous culture and a common language. It increasingly suffers from a democratic deficit between Brussels and outlying regions. Its evangelists aim to create an ideal society ruled by technocrats. In Europe, the technocrats are increasingly seen as distant, unaccountable, and arrogant. The EU is also plagued with groupthink and ignores views it does not like. European history tells us that when elites ignore the people bad things can happen.
The EU's current economic problems were triggered by the 2008 financial crises and the euro. How it reacted made things worse and helps explain the rise in populism. Austerity economics in the eurozone has resulted in slow growth and high unemployment since 2008. The EU replaced “populist” leaders in Greece and Italy. Greece then lost 30% of its GDP and its unemployment is still above 20%. A large section of the Italian public is increasingly hostile to the euro. The country has had virtually no economic growth since 1999. Many Italians believe they need a change of direction, and an anti-EU government has just taken power in Italy. According to Tim Geithner, a former U.S. Treasury Secretary, the EU asked the U.S. to approve the removal of Silvio Berlusconi, a previous Italian president who would not do as he was told.
Europe's populist leaders have become a thorn in the side of the EU. Hungary's leader, Viktor Orban, is accused of being anti-democratic, however, he was recently elected with a two-thirds majority in a national election. Many of his nationalistic policies are not acceptable to the EU, however, they are popular with a majority of Hungarians, especially those who want to limit immigration. The implication is that Orban is misleading the Hungarian people and they are too stupid or racist to notice. The question is whether Hungarians need the approval of the EU to run their country the way they want to.
Muller argues that in Europe and the United States it is less educated white males that are attracted to populism. For some reason, their views don't seem to count. The reviews on the dust jacket agree that Muller has brilliant insights, but he does not seem to understand that populism grows when elites are out of touch. The EU's problem is that it is not willing to listen to its people's concerns. The EU wants a federal Europe but many of its citizens don't. Muller fears the return of totalitarianism, but what seems more likely is the break-up of the EU.
