Populism and Democracy Essay Example

Introduction:

The effect that populism and populist parties have had on is one that is consistent and will continue that way. A populist’s ideology is based on the notion that “the people” should have power in politics over what they call “the elites”.4 

While both Switzerland and the U.S. are federal style democracies, the public in the US has not endorsed universal healthcare. I believe this is because of populist attitudes in a larger, more heterogeneous ideal in the U.S, which changes American attitudes to NOT support it.1 While the Swiss have a smaller, homogeneous ideals which makes them more likely to support universal health care. 

In the first section, I will explain the theory of populism and how it differs from nation to nation and what outside factors can cause those changes. The second section of this paper I will discuss the homogenous society that is Switzerland. And furthermore explain how populist attitudes are affected and in the end how affect policies being passed. In the third section I will explore the United States heterogeneous society and how it makes a difference in populist attitudes. Or who American citizens view as the elite.

(Outline) Populism: Effects & Factors

Populism is the political ideology that involves “the people”, who are seen as an entity of social greatness, and “the elite”, who are seen as the corrupt, selfish upper class. However, although we can know the bases of this ideology, we can’t be too concrete. This kind of ideology traditionally grows and is nurtured in a democratic nation. Where the citizens have somewhat of a say in the government. It is not compatible with non-democracies.7  

The whole concept of populism is that it functions off of what the nation it’s taking place in sees as “the people'' and “the elite”. Populism operates differently based on the democratic country it’s developing in.7  Outside agents often have influence on what becomes popular amongst populist. Things like religious characteristics, republician patriotism, or nativism.7  Switzerland and the United States are examples of how different populist attitudes lead to different outcomes with policies put into place.

In the article Populism and health policy: three international case studies of right‐wing populist policy frames, by Ewen Speed, he discusses how right-wing populism has affected different health policies in separate societies/nations. For the United States, Speed analyzes how public outrage and concern raised by a “moral panic” is usually addressed by political compromises (e.g. the Affordable Care Act that the US has in place today). He addresses different nations like the United Kingdom and Italy but he doesn’t mention countries that have successful health care programs as well as right-wing populist movements. For that reason, I am comparing Switzerland, a nation with universal health care but right-wing as well.

Section I: Right- Wing Populism in a Homogenous Society (Switzerland)

 Nativism in Switzerland is based on the fact that Switzerland is a relatively small nation of people. Because of its size, the Swiss government has long been transparent with allowing its citizens to know what is going on in and out of politics. So their idea of “the people” is usually including the government. Switzerland operates with a direct democracy, which allows Swiss citizens to vote on policies directly.5 With this kind of system, populist movements and attitudes have a huge affect on what policies are put into place.

In the early 90s, right-wing parties, like the Swiss People’s Party, didn’t have too much power and were at a disadvantage.6 When it came to the passing of a new healthcare that would be universal, by popular demand and work in the government, it was passed. 

Section II: Right- Wing Populism in a Heterogenous Society (The U.S.)

Like in Switzerland, right-wing populism runs rampant in the U.S but where the difference lies is who “the people” view as “the elite”. For the United States’ version of right-wing populism, the they identify “the people” as citizens of “European-hearitage” or “real Americans”.10 However, with America being a nation of diversity and people of different backgrounds, the views of right-wing populist never contains the values of everybody.

In the beginning, around the late 19th - early 20th century, populist movements were more progressive and socialized. For example populist parties like the Farmer’s Party,who advocated for more government assistance in their everyday lives. Socialism is now a thing that a lot of Americans see happening. It’s this exact reason why right-wing/conservative populist movements are now gaining popularity.

From the 1990s to today conservative populist attitudes have maintained a dominant position in politics.8  Conservatism is an ideology where the collective group wishes for less government interference or for traditional institutions to remain the same. Although conservatism has been so prevalent and continues to do so, Obama, a more liberal politician, was elected to be president.

In his presidency, Obama passed one of the most extensive welfare programs of its time, the Affordable Care Act. This was and still is the closest the U.S. has ever gotten universal health coverage. This healthcare reform helped 9 million American citizens who didn’t have access to healthcare gain that access to that care.3;9 However, this act also received a lot of hate from new forming populist movements like The Tea Party or what was forming within the Republican party.8

When Donald Trump ran for president in 2016, he appealed to a right-wing poulist base by identifying the “corrupt elites'' to be those already in power. He proposed to remove legislations put in place by previous administrations (i.e. Obama). Although Trump did not remove the legislation during his presidency, he did stop even more progressive policies to come about.

Conclusion

Populism’s effect on policies is the reason we should be aware of its current attitudes and tones. When asking why other countries have programs we think we should have, we can now know that populist attitudes can influence politicians, which all together affects what policies are made.

In closing, we find that because of the different factors that contribute to the United States’ ongoing conservative/right wing populist attitude we can see how the implementation of social welfare programs, like universal health care, has never come to fruition. Switzerland’s more liberal populist attitude/parties allowed universal healthcare and other social programs come to light.