Cardus conversation and populism

This week I travelled (virtually) from one end of South America to the other, while last evening saw my return to Canada, where I conversed with Cardus' 2022-2023 NextGen Fellowship Cohort, consisting of twelve people ages 25 to 34 with impressive résumés who are at the beginning of their careers in public service. They have been reading and discussing together Political Visions and Illusions, and last evening was their opportunity to talk with the author. One of the participants asked a question about populism, as did one of my Brazilian readers a day earlier. I did not cover populism as such in my book, although my treatments of conservatism, nationalism, and democratism certainly have relevance. Five years ago, however, I did write an article for the Autumn 2017 issue of The Bible in Transmission, of the Bible Society (also known as the British and Foreign Bible Society): Populism in Christian Perspective. An excerpt:

What shall we as Christians make of populism? It can be a powerful weapon in the long political battle for justice, especially for the disadvantaged. Nevertheless, it is a two-edged sword that can just as easily be wielded for ill. Some observers of a more conservative mindset may assume that The People retain a purity and essential goodness of spirit demonstrating their superiority over their leaders. The recently deceased American sociologist Peter Berger once observed that ‘India is the most religious country in the world, Sweden is the most secular country in the world, and America is a country of Indians ruled by Swedes.’ It is not difficult to see the populist influence in this statement. The more orthodox Christians who believe that America is travelling the wrong path typically blame secularizing élites for the country’s predicament, keeping their faith in the innate goodness of The People. Democracy is the obvious answer, as the people rise up to unseat these leaders. 

Recently, however, matters have been looking more complicated. One cannot simply blame political leaders for the direction of an entire culture. George Bernard Shaw was perhaps more realistic in his observation that ‘Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.’ An overstatement perhaps. Yet it is true that political institutions and leaders alike are conditioned by a complex of cultural assumptions characterising the polity as a whole. A people accustomed to autocracy is very likely to be ruled by autocrats. A nation whose people are corrupt in their daily lives [is] highly unlikely to be governed by leaders careful to avoid conflict of interest in the conduct of public affairs.

Depending on which browser you are using, you may be prompted to download the article as a pdf file.