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“I found the crown in the gutter. I picked it up, and the people put it on my head.” - Napoleon Bonaparte
Before I explain the problem of Populism, I had better define what it is I am referring to. Varying definitions have rendered the term nigh nebulous. Firstly, it is not an ideology, nor beholden to the right or left wing. President Trump, Nigel Farage, and Tucker Carlson are Populists, but so too are Senator Bernie Sanders, Jeremy Corbyn, and Cenk Uygur. Of course, like Libertarians, they will deny that the label belongs to the other, which I will add is a foreshadowing of the problem of Populism. Fundamentally, a Populist is one who believes that they alone represent the needs and will of the common man against a corrupt elite. Anyone who disagrees with them is therefore opposed to the will of the people and probably corrupt. Populism, thus, is not an ideology but a political tool that ideologues use to gain and maintain power.
Populism takes one of two routes. The first is authoritarianism. Caesar, Napoleon, and Hitler were all authoritarian populists. The second route is towards direct democracy, democracy which operates by the vote of every citizen rather than through elected representatives. The latter is the clear lesser of the two evils, but either are damaging to the republican form of government. First, I will go into authoritarian Populism.
It might appear paradoxical to some that Julius and Augustus Caesar, two dictators largely responsible for the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire, were Populares-- Populists. They declared the Senate corrupt, which is hard to deny (Albeit, the Caesars themselves bought their positions), and enacted many reforms that made the lives of the common people easier, which is hard to rebuke. The trouble came when Caesar used his popularity as a mandate to break all republican norms and even a number of laws, to say nothing of starting a civil war when the republican process did not go his way, culminating in becoming dictator for life shortly before his assassination on the Ides of March.
Similarly, Napoleon rose to power when he returned from his campaign in Egypt and was hailed as the savior of France (Despite having lost to the British off the Egyptian coast). Taking advantage of this popularity, he seized power as First Consul of France in a coup d'état that overthrew the governing Directory. France never had the long tradition of republican virtue and norms Rome did, having just been through many bloody stages of the French Revolution, but Napoleon showed little desire for a constitution that would restrict him. After gaining more popular support for his egalitarian and tolerant Code Napoleon, which is more or less still legally binding, Napoleon was made emperor after a (likely rigged) election. At his coronation, he literally crowned himself rather than abide by the tradition of bishops crowning monarchs, though he would claim to his dying day that it was the people of France who put the crown on his head. At this point, with an established cult of personality behind him, he could do no wrong in the eyes of France. When he returned from his British-imposed exile in Elba, the French army sent by the reinstated king to arrest him simply joined him instead, and Napoleon was made emperor again in one of the most impressive albeit disturbing twists in history.
Finally, in the greatest example of a failed republic, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party were launched into popularity because of a trial on charges of high treason after the failed Beer Hall Putsch coup, which Hitler was definitely guilty of. He was expected to be executed, imprisoned for life, or deported back to Austria. Instead, he spent less than a year in prison and came out a perceived champion of the German people against a corrupt governing elite, especially the “Jewish regime” and Marxists (Also Populists, just of an alternative ideology). At his trial speech, Hitler claimed it was not he that committed high treason, but that the Weimar Republic was founded on high treason. Eventually, anyone who disagreed with the Nazis could not possibly be anything but an enemy of Germany. The rest of the story is well known.
Mind, I am not drawing a connection between Hitler and Trump or Sanders, or anyone else. I am merely illustrating how a politician employing populist tactics can erode the values of a republic and convince a nation to commit atrocities. Populists are the most dangerous of politicians and should be dealt with skepticism. In the words of Plato’s Republic, “The people have always some champion whom they set over them and nurse into greatness… This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs.” The greatest threat to a democratic republic is its own heroes.
But it is more complicated than that. In most cases, Populists are correct in identifying problems when they are not scapegoating. The Roman Senate was deeply corrupt when the Caesars put it down. Napoleon arose out of both the incompetent French monarchy and the revolutionary reign of terror. Even Hitler tapped into discontent with the Weimar government over their deliberate inflation of the currency to pay reparations with little regard for the middle class. Populists become most tempting, and therefore most powerful, at times when the establishment is at its worst. Furthermore it is the duty of representatives to push for the needs of their constituencies. Rather, it is the methods of Populism that are concerning. A healthy republic must never allow a Populist to form a cult of personality from which all who disagree are enemies of the common people, and it must never allow its leaders to violate the norms of the republic for any reason.
Fortunately, not all Populist leaders claim they can personally represent the will of the people. A Populist movement rapidly growing throughout Europe often advocates direct democracy rather than authoritarianism; however, this too is inconsistent with republican government. Direct democracy becomes mob rule in which, as the common analogy goes, a lamb and several wolves decide what to have for supper. A functioning republic requires limitations even on the will of the people, especially for the protection of minorities. And by the way, minorities does not merely refer to ethnic or religious groups. No, the greatest minority is the individual. Depending on the topic at hand, anyone can become the minority. Institutions operating as direct democracies have no place for the likes of Socrates and Jesus Christ. If a truth becomes taboo, nobody in a direct democracy will dare speak it, which is ironically the very thing that so many Populists fear from the elites.
I fully encourage you to elect representatives who will truly represent your needs and expose corruption. Let it never be said that the ruling class is spotless, which usually includes Populist champions. Yet I must urge you, hold on to the norms and virtues of the republic established by your forefathers. Under no circumstances and to no aims should you follow your representative across the Rubicon.