Feb. 12, Rita Kirk, director of the Maguire Center for Ethics & Public Responsibility and professor in Corporate Communication & Public Affairs at SMU Dallas, for a piece analyzing the tendencies and paths of populists. She counts President Donald Trump among them. Published in The Hill: http://bit.ly/3bwK9mt
President Donald Trump is a populist. He draws his strength from those who are angry with the way our government is working and tired of the pablum offered in lieu of authentic answers to problems real people face. In that sense, he provides a great service to our republic. He holds a mirror to the politics-as-usual crowd and what is seen is not pretty.
When James Madison University professor Dr. Dan Schill and I conducted the CNN focus groups for the 2016 election, our very first observation was that voters were angry. Some were angry about medical coverage, others over military benefits, some over issues like abortion, still others over tax burdens. Anger united them. . .
President Trump is a populist. He draws his strength from those who are angry with the way our government is working and tired of the pablum offered in lieu of authentic answers to problems real people face. In that sense, he provides a great service to our republic. He holds a mirror to the politics-as-usual crowd and what is seen is not pretty.
When James Madison University professor Dr. Dan Schill and I conducted the CNN focus groups for the 2016 election, our very first observation was that voters were angry. Some were angry about medical coverage, others over military benefits, some over issues like abortion, still others over tax burdens. Anger united them.
To many, eight years of Obama was a failed promise. That makes sense when you consider that expectation for how a black president would run the country were exceptionally high. Surely, he would change the way America is governed.
Surely he would right the wrongs of almost a hundred years of black under-representation and help women find their rightful place in leadership. It was expected that he would also hear the pleas of those whose voices were not heard. Try as he might — and he did try — eight years was insufficient to turn the tide. No doubt he had to play by the established rules of politics and in so doing became seen as just another politician.
The 2016 election showed that an insider — even one as qualified as Hillary Clinton — was not the answer. No, they wanted to change.
Into that mix came candidate Donald Trump. Love him or loathe him, he is a shrewd master of communication. He’s the one who took a show like The Apprentice and made it spectacle TV.
He’s the one who saved the dying sports wrestling industry and made it profitable again — and while he was there, found that naming opponents essentialized them into perceptually defeatable characters (Little Mario, ‘Low-Energy’ Jeb Bush, Rocketman, Pocahontas…). Winning is addictive and perhaps nothing could be as luring to Trump as touting his successes.
Enter the populist president. The Art of the Deal made manifest in politics is an effective strategy for winning, but it has its costs. Populism is not defined by party affiliation, rather it is a particular strategy of expression. It begins by unifying the discontented until a rupture occurs in the political structure that leads to a deeper sense of animosity.
Studies of populist movements over time show this technique inevitably breeds contempt among leaders and followers alike. The “movement” defines itself as the underdogs and strikes at the powerful who are, of course, the source of most misery. The result is that the group becomes hostile, angry, and agitated.Although people have many sources of discontent, the populist unites them as a “We” people against a targeted source of our misery. In the past, communism, the “demon rum” and even racists/racism have been blamed for our national discontent.
We often lack an appreciation for the power of communication. The current populist movement would probably have emerged even if Donald Trump did not lead it. The conditions were right for someone to step forward. People are discontented and now they no longer feel alone but are empowered by a person who models that anger and resentment.
Unfortunately, that has led to our current crisis incivility. Most would agree there is a deep chasm in the country between various political ideologies and between their leaders.
The last couple of weeks bear witness of a fissure in our society.
Perhaps politics can be expected at a State of the Union address (although this year it seemed to be the State of Disunion), but the blatant challenges to the faith of others is a cutting sword.
When a president and Speaker of the House avoid shaking hands at a speech, well, that’s politics. But to fail to shake hands and even avert the other at a prayer breakfast meant to unite — that speaks to a wound that cannot be healed.
The keynote speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast was not President Trump, although, given the amount of news coverage he received, you might have thought so. The keynote speaker was Arthur Brooks.
Not so long ago, Brooks led a think tank working on conservative issues. If you haven’t read his book or listened to his podcast, you should. You may be inspired by his decision to leave politics-as-usual and make his life’s mission to heal our deep divisions. His seminal message at the prayer breakfast was to love one another.
He even asked the crowd of some 3,500 to do one thing: make a pledge to another person to stop the culture of contempt this election season by steadfastly refusing to enter into its practices. That is a message we can all use but it is ineffective in allaying the fears of populist movements.
So, is there a way out? Yes. And it originates with those in power. A mirror is now held up to those who govern. Problems are now being heard and need to be addressed. Much as you might be tempted to blame Trump, you can only blame him for taking advantage of a situation created by what is seen as an unresponsive ruling class.
Break the bonds between voter dissatisfaction by addressing their concerns directly. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) modeled that in her response to Trump’s State of the Union address. As she showed, it takes more than words; it takes action. Blur the lines between “us” and “them.” Attack the problem, not the movement’s leader. This is not a winner-take-all strategy.
It preserves the tension between the government and the governed. It is a race to the middle where the steadfast movement toward a better society exists. It does not suggest that all problems are solvable, but that the effects will be lessened. Perhaps we should thank Trump for forcing us to take a look at ourselves. We can indeed do better.
Rita Kirk is director of the Maguire Center for Ethics & Public Responsibility as well as an Altshuler distinguished professor in Corporate Communication & Public Affairs at SMU Dallas.