【Excerpt】Taggart 丨 "Populism" - Political Movements and Populist Politics in the United States (Excerpt)
Populism, Populism
By Paul Taggart
Translated by Yuan Mingxu
Published by Jilin People's Publishing House; 2005-5.
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The main text is about 6100 words, the abstract is about 280 words, please pay attention to the context of the connection.
The bold font is the basis of the label, does not mean identification, is worthy of attention.
Editor: Yang Yuanping.
Chapter Three: Political Movements and Populist Politics in the United States (Excerpt)
summary:
Religious beliefs and rationalism, in particular, together constitute "Americanism." p34
The populist picture is finally fixed on the political right represented by Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. p35
Populist themes: moral corruption, cabals, the goodness of ordinary people, conspiracies, betrayals. p37
They established a banking system without regard for their own interests. p41
The populist movement in the United States is a true mass movement, and it is abundantly clear that the shining point of the populist movement is not connected to a particular individual leader with extraordinary charisma compared to other major populist movements in history. p47
Populists are warnings of the coming changes. p49
In the United States, as the cornerstone of almost all political discourse, The importance of Americanism lies in the fact that it allows and even encourages reformists to use populist political models. p49
body:
P33
Without some common sense of populism, it is difficult to understand American politics, and likewise, without an understanding of American populism, it is impossible to truly grasp populism. As made clear in the Constitution, the American political system and many things with American characteristics are built around the principles of representative democracy. Thus, as a reaction and product of representative politics, populism permeates American political life like a decorative motif.
In the late 19th century, in the people's party and populist movements, a number of important figures of populism inevitably appeared. This phenomenon has not been prominent in the political history of the United States. Historically, the failure of populist parties as an independent new force in their attempts to break through the American party system implies the fact that, as an interesting but insignificant attempt to achieve a historic transformation from the systems of the Democratic and Republican parties that persist in American political life and are in opposition to each other, populists are often in danger of being squeezed by the trauma of the Civil War of the 1860s and the reshaping of Roosevelt's New Deal in the 1930s. (p34) The importance of the BJP and populist movements of the 1880s and 1890s goes far beyond that, clearly embodying, expressing, and mobilizing purposes and motives that are deeply permeated in American political life and deeply rooted in the minds of populists.
P34
Looking at American politics, the history of the People's Party provides the most vivid example of the mobilization of populist bottom-up mass movements. The essence of 19th-century American populism was not to function as a particularly appealing leader (as in the case of Peron), or as a group of far-sighted elites and theoreticians of complex and abstract ideological systems dedicated to theoretical development and practice (in the case of Russia). The BJP has written a glorious chapter in this popular mass movement that once gave birth to itself. In the history of the People's Party, and not just in any other form of cases of populism that we are pondering, we see the birth of the politics of mass movements, a social phenomenon in the true sense of the word bottom up. The name "The People" also shows the characteristics of the movement that are truly popular among the peasants of the South and the West. The populist movement and the People's Party in the United States have shown the possibility of a progressive populism: it promotes radical change but lacks revolutionary enthusiasm.
Populism in the United States did not start with the People's Party, nor did it end with the People's Party. As Michael Kazin (1995) argued, populism is necessary for American politics. Kazin argues that populism has its roots in a combination of anti-elitism and ideas derived from the Protestant Reformation and enlightenment of the 19th century. Religious beliefs and rationalism, in particular, together constitute "Americanism." At the heart of Kazin's view is the belief that populism's seemingly permanent but volatile political form can shift from a progressive, pro-reformist leftist ideology to a conservative, reactionary ideology, and indeed has. (p35) Under all these facades, populism can claim that this passionate and fanatical reform movement has not been transformed into a revolutionary tendency. In Kazin's view, populism has clearly challenged the American political system, but this challenge does not threaten the most basic ideological structures of American political life.
P35
Kazin depicts the developmental genealogy of populism that began with the People's Party and continued through the labor movement in the early 20th century, while expressing his antipathy to the totalitarian state and the centralization of wealth as a whole. In some of the movements that succeeded during prohibition, Kazin took note of populist claims that the wealthy should take care of poor drunks and incompetent protesters. Proceeding from the political theories of Frank Coughlin, the father of political science, and his desire to build a new force against corporate giants and the communist revolution, Kazin argues that populism has kept pace with Franklin Delano Roosevelt's crackdown on "economic royalists" from the outset. But the discord that arose over Coughlan's support for fascism in World War II ended in Americanism. During the Cold War, Kazin had argued that populists would move from progressive to conservative politics, and through MaCarthy's anti-communist political persecution in Congress and the political rivalry of George Wallace in the South, the populist picture was finally frozen in Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan) represents the political right-wing forces.
Just like under the focus of a lens, people often run the risk of having the illusion that the details are much larger than those of the surrounding objects. Looking at almost all aspects of American politics, it is not difficult to find traces of populism in almost every field. If we look at populism more broadly, it is abundantly clear that the populist movement has a special resonance in American political life. (p36) But as pivotal moments, movements, and promoters of significance, the true populist movement has far fewer political life in the United States than Kazin claims. Kazin looks at populism through the lens of American politics, but if he looks at American politics through the lens of populism, he sees a slightly different picture and reality.
The People's Party and the populist movement
P36
In Omaha in 1892, the newly formed People's Party held a national congress to nominate a candidate for presidential election. From the background of cooperative alliances forged in peasant movements based on regional villages to break away from dependence on the eastern financial system and railway authorities, a well-fledged political party has been formed. Entering party political life is by no means a predictable outcome of a mass campaign by peasant radicals, but it is a clear and significant change for populists. The party they created failed to succeed because it was unable to break the monopoly of democrats and Republicans. But the history of the People's Party and the 19th-century American populists is key to understanding populism in general. In Omaha, the BJP formalized its political programme and candidates, and in the preface to the platform, based on the passionate speech of Ignatius Donnelly, we see a classic statement of populist theory: our country is on the verge of moral, political, and material decay, with corruption controlling elections, legislation, congress, and even the judiciary. People are morally corrupt, newspapers rely mainly on funding or remain silent, public opinion is silent, business is sluggish, (P37) the family is full of collateral, the labor force is exhausted, the land is concentrated in the hands of capitalists... The fruits of the hard work of millions of people have been seized by an unprecedented number of capitalists and used as capital to increase their great wealth, and those owners of capital have turned to despise the republic and endanger freedom. From the fertile and prolific source of government inequities, we have bred two classes – homeless and millionaire.
P37
A huge conspiracy against humanity has been orchestrated on two continents and quickly took over the world. If people do not immediately recognize and overthrow it, it will herald terrible social unrest and the destruction of civilization, or the establishment of a totalitarian dictatorship. We have witnessed a 25-year-long struggle between the two major political parties for power and loot, and this grave mistake has dealt a heavy blow to those who have suffered. We accuse the two parties in power of allowing this terrible situation to develop further and failing to do everything in their power to stop or restrain them.
At the National Day ceremony rally... We seek to restore republican power and put it in the hands of the civilians, who are the founders of the republic. We insist on aligning ourselves with the national Constitution in our goals; forging a more perfect coalition, establishing fairness and justice, ensuring peace and tranquility in the country, providing public protection, and promoting the welfare of the masses in order to guarantee the freedom of ourselves and future generations (People's Party 1978, 90-2).
Resonating throughout the preface are populist themes: moral corruption, the cabal, the goodness of ordinary people, and conspiracy, betrayal. In tone and content, the preamble describes populists' views on political frustration, anxiety, and expectations. Specifically, the preamble sets out a number of themes based on the ideas of the founding period and the possibility of the United States losing its lofty ideals in the face of regression. This is a reflection of the true nature of Americans in American populism.
P38
The case of populism in the United States in the 19th century is often considered a model of populism, and there are many historical monographs and translations on it. The history of the People's Party and populism is often portrayed on the one hand as reactionary and localist (Hofstadter, 1995), or, on the contrary, as the first passion of Progressive Politics in the United States, a great democratic vision movement (Goodwyn, 1976). Whatever way it is commented on, the history of the BJP represents an extraordinary period in the political history of the United States.
The results of the American Civil War (1861-1865) left a web of regional, cultural, and economic conflicts that could serve as a permanent basis for American politics. Populists have grown and developed from this unique political model. It is important to understand the context in which the populist movement emerged, which reminds us of the Civil War and its aftermath.
The war ended in defeat in the South, and the Rift between North and South became a permanent reminder of the conflict. The differences between the Urbanized North and the predominantly agricultural South manifest themselves in many ways. The war began primarily with the South's reliance on slavery for economic development, but the division between the North and the South often included a series of differences over slavery. This difference is also due to the fact that the North is located in the city and is the center of political and financial power, while the South relies on cotton as its main product and remains an agrarian society with its own unique values and cultural traditions. The populist movement started out as a peasant movement in the South, but its fate was and to what extent it could affect the West.
The second divergence is the currency. The Civil War had a profound impact on monetary policy. During the war, Congress created the national banking system and introduced paper money in the form of U.S. dollar bills. After the war, the government had to deal with disputes over money that originated when money should represent something else, (p39) and not just value itself, and the cost of the war by various sectors of the U.S. economy became a cause for controversy. The key question is whether the currency should be a symbol of gold reserves or make it still regarded merely as paper money as it did during the war. Government policy will be committed to seeking economic growth to compensate for the difference between the value of paper money mandated during the war and the value of gold reserves. This move put farmers in a terrible position because they had to produce and sell more to earn the same income (Goodwyn 1976, 13-14). The southern peasants were defeated and now facing economic bankruptcy.
P39
A third divide exists between land and industry. While this can be partly attributed to the division between north and south, the development of industrial infrastructure in the form of telegraphic communications and railroads, the distinction between the urban industrial labor force and agricultural workers and peasants, and the growth of the power of financiers and bankers were among the main factors that contributed to the economic, political, and social development of the United States in the second half of the 19th century. Populists work to unite workers, sometimes leading to alliances, such as in Illinois, but this is the exception, and often coalitions tend to be extremely unstable and perishable.
The ultimate disagreement focused on the party system. The Republican Party of the North, represented by Lincoln, competed politically with the more conservative Democratic Party that defended the South, slavery, and state power. These parties are local forces and have not yet been approved by their headquarters. These parties also fought over money from different positions (Ritter 197, 34-37). The Republican Party turned directly to financial conservatism (to maintain standards), and the divisions faced by the Democratic Party were mainly regional issues, but with the formation of the party's eastern factions and the establishment of the eastern banking system, the western and northwestern factions of the party tended to advocate more aggressive monetary policy due to financial conservatism. Faced with the idea of silver as a compromise between gold and U.S. dollar bills, allowing it to circulate freely, (p40) different local governments reached an unstable compromise. By the time Grover Cleveland became Democratic for the second time, this precarious compromise between the party's various factions had finally collapsed. Silver was condemned in 1893 after the Great Depression caused by financial, investment, and agricultural crises. Cleveland retreated to its original position and decided to maintain the gold price level. This suddenly erupted in the party, so by the time of the 1896 election Cleveland had been cast aside, led by a man who advocated the free minting of silver coins, who had been prepared to be nominated as a presidential candidate.
The party system had a rift and trajectory of conflict before and during the civil war. By the 1890s, a key issue with politics was no longer between Democrats and Republicans, but between these parties and populist complexes, movements, and even antitrust factions within the Democratic Party. The two-party system was not very harmonious with the political life of the time. (1) Thus, populists have the potential to restructure this party system.
(1) This denial of citizenship to blacks in the South meant another wrong line in American politics, where the black nation remained powerless until they were given formal and effective suffrage.
For populists, the main strategic dilemma is their attitude towards the Democratic Party. The Southern party is either a potential partner of populists or a fundamental threat. As financial conservatives, they are enemies, but as advocates of free minting of silverites, they are potential allies. Finally, after becoming an independent force, populists made decisive choices about their partners, but the history of the BJP had realistic possibilities from the beginning.
P41
The rise of populist movements and the BJP heralded a mobilization. It represents a special new force that is based on geography and defends land ownership and opposes the failure of the north's economic, political and party systems. The BJP was not the first independent political force after the war; in fact, there were already some powerful independent political forces with continuity before them. The Greenback Party persisted from 1876 to 1884 and was by no means insignificant. It won 13.8 percent of the nation's vote in 1878, setting a record for high levels for political parties. But its real importance lies in providing populism with a platform for antitrusts. They advocated the use of paper money as a means of circulation to keep pace with population growth and economic development. In addition, they established the banking system at the expense of their own interests, and the radical ideas, views, and voters of this party became the foundation of the later populist mobilization.
(p42-p46 slightly)
P47
The populist movement in the United States is a true mass movement, and it is abundantly clear that the shining point of the populist movement is not connected to a particular individual leader with extraordinary charisma compared to other major populist movements in history. There are many leaders with extraordinary charisma, but their colorful experiences are completely separated from this massive movement. Hofstadter (Berlin and others concerned, 1968, 143) pointed out that populism in the United States was not guided by great theorists, while Lawrence Goodwyn (1976, 310) attributed the populists' failures in part to the lack of social theory, which should be based on the idea of economic cooperation. The general character of this movement is mixed with the ideological difficulties of tending to institutionalize. For major events, the distinction between regional and national movements dictates that the history of populists can only be a political compromise, not the embodiment of fanatical ideology. The center of division placed the responsibility on the Southern populists on the Southern party, (p48) while the populists of the Western Democratic Party, led by The Kansas populists, were tasked with creating a truly third party that drove the peasants out of their historical loyalties.
P48
The populist challenge stems from a real sense of economic crisis among farmers. The crisis has made it impossible for them to survive on land. Farmers' Unions have tried to find a way to overcome the crisis through direct methods, but many factors, including the reluctance of some financial institutions to extend credit to fledgling joint ventures, have dashed this idea. The result was a flood of financial crises, which severely affected bankers, railroad authorities and land speculators, all of which became endless nightmares for farmers. Post-Civil War political reconstruction was the trigger for this crisis, as the party system failed to propose a strong response to the concerns of peasant activists in the South and West.
Faced with these challenges, populists retreated to the American countryside and re-embraced the ideas of the central region. Their ideas confirmed the image of the peasantry as productive and conscientious citizens and a treasure trove of ideas for the American Revolution, as well as the creation of a republican form of peasant autonomy. The beliefs instilled in populists are not just abstract ideas. Macune's Treasury Splitting Program, which linked farmers into a network of credit and mutual cooperation, demonstrated the efficacy of the central region in real-world political action, making cooperative movements easier to succeed than party politics.
The careful choice of some antipathy to the existing system, based on peasant alliances, made the populist movement of this period extraordinary in the social context. Yet populists reject financial institutions and local economic organizations, (p49) they try to build their own complex set of selection mechanisms. The system itself is not without problems, but for populists, creating complex institutional frameworks is extraordinary.
P49
The BJP's legacy is twofold. First, attempts to build populist parties as an independent political force outside the two-party system, with near success, were indeed crucial factors in the subsequent reorganization of the two-party system (Burnham 1970), while the parties continued to exist and their names continued to exist, which changed the entire agenda of American politics, in Roosevelt's New Deal Deal) culminates in the use of political parties to represent the new alliances and ideological positions of supporters. Populists are warnings of the coming changes.
The second legacy of the BJP is the establishment of a political atmosphere that is compatible with the prevailing political culture. The waning radicalism of populism and the concessions to revolution in support of radical change have all successfully pandered to the content of American politics. In the United States, as the cornerstone of almost all political discourse, The importance of Americanism lies in the fact that it allows and even encourages reformists to use populist political models.
Publication of the Introduction
Populism is essentially a modern phenomenon, with the development of modern economy, changes in the international and domestic political patterns, there have been populist movements or trends of thought around the world. In contemporary society, populism also often appears in various forms around the world in various forms, appearing in the speech of some politicians and thinkers. It can be said that populism is a universal phenomenon and trend of thought, but what is embarrassing is that people are still unclear about populism so far, and have not formed a relatively clear and unified consensus. In fact, according to Mr. Taggart, populism itself is a concept with no clear connotation, which is characterized by variability and volatility, and it is often disappointing to seek its clear meaning.
Populism has extremely complex and rich connotations, it is not only a political mentality, a political trend, but also a social movement, and at the same time a political strategy. As a political mentality, it is a very complex and capricious and varied political psychology. As a complex political trend of thought, it has neither the inherent logical unity nor the systematization of general theory, its expression in various countries and regions, and in different periods of the same country and region, and because it does not have its own independent and complete theoretical system, it is often attached to other political ideas and ideologies. As a social movement, it often advocates relying on the people to carry out radical reforms of society from the bottom up. At the same time, in social movements it often uses the masses as a tool and means to achieve their goals, praising the strength and wisdom of the masses, and the leaders of the movement often use it as a strategy to achieve their ends.
From a historical perspective, Taggart carefully analyzes the typical populist movements taking place around the world, exploring their commonalities and gaining insight into their differences. Through the expression of historical facts and the analysis of theory, it is believed that populism itself is an inherently contradictory paradox, and it is itself in a dilemma. On the one hand, it holds high the banner of the people, but the result is often caught in a cult of personality, claiming to rely on the people, but on the other hand it often pins its complete hopes on the charismatic individual leader of the Karisma style; on the one hand, it opposes the current mainstream political form, opposes the elite, opposes representative democracy, opposes institutionalization, opposes political parties, etc., but on the other hand, it is born in the representative political environment, and it has to exert influence and mobilize, and it has to rely on the current political system. Activities are carried out in the form of political parties. On the one hand, in theory, it often attacks political parties and power struggles, while in practice, it often gets into power struggles. Thus populism, because of this contradiction inherent in itself, often becomes in the end what it opposes, becomes its own opposite, and falls into an insurmountable dilemma set by itself. Populism, therefore, has its inherent insurmountable contradictions. Through the elaboration of this pamphlet, although we still cannot have a clear understanding of populism in a comprehensive and thorough way, it at least makes us realize that populism is a complex phenomenon and that any simplistic, monolithic explanation is one-sided. The understanding of populism must be combined with specific contexts to have a relatively objective understanding. It should be pointed out that some of the words in this work reflect the views of Western scholars, and the limitations of their theories are inevitable, and we need to treat them seriously and objectively when reading, maintain a critical attitude, and make things up.
Editor: April 20, 2005
directory
preface... 1
Chapter 1 Introduction... 1
Chapter II: On the Definition of Populism... 13
Part I: Examples of Populism
Chapter Three: Political Movements and Populist Politics in the United States... 33
Chapter Four: Go to the People! The lessons of Russian populism ... 61
Chapter Five: Leadership in Populist Politics in Latin America... 78
Chapter Six: Promoting Populism: Canada's Social Credit... 89
Chapter Seven: New Populism... 98
Part II: Characteristics of Populism
Chapter Eight: Populism, the People, and the Central Region... 123
Chapter Nine: The Institutional Dilemma of Populism... 134
Chapter X: Populism and Representative Politics... 146
Chapter 11 Conclusion... 155
bibliography... 160
Translator's Epilogue... 172
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The above is for reference only, thank you!
Jesus, knowing their intentions, said to them, "Where a nation squabbles with itself, it becomes a wasteland, and a city and a family will not be able to stand up when they strife with each other; (Matthew 12:25 and YV)
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. (Matthew 12:25 NIV)
IN CHRIST