These are populist times, but make no mistake, populism is a danger to a liberal democracy—a representative democracy with checks and balances. In fact, we have our checks and balances because the founding fathers saw populist demagogues as the greatest danger.
Populism, the “ism” of the people, is a partial worldview that can be grafted onto many other perspectives. So there are left-wing populisms and right-wing populisms. What they have in common is the view that “the people” are virtuous and the “elite” are corrupt. Consequently, “the will of the people should prevail.”
Of course, there is no single “will of the people,” so this can mean direct (not representative) democracy with one-person/one-vote. Or it can mean that a populist leader, claiming to represent the people, decides. Either way, minorities are not well protected. For example, a populist movement passed California Proposition 14 in a 65-percent landslide to amend the state constitution and deliberately reinstate housing discrimination in 1964.
In an undemocratic society, populism is likely to be a step in the right direction. But in a liberal democracy such as ours, it will damage democracy and will likely reduce minority rights and lead to authoritarian leadership. Surprisingly, this is generally true of left-wing populists as well as right-wing populists. Often, populist leaders are not actually populists but just play the part to gain authoritarian powers.
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