Populism vs. Elitism

Michael P. Federici Mercyhurst College

The Road to Mass Democracy: Original Intent and the Seventeenth Amend- ment, by C.H. Hoebeke. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 1995. 211 pp. $29.95.

The Populist Persuasion, by Michael Kazin. New York: Basic Books, 1995. 381 pp. $24.00.

The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy, by Christopher Lasch. New York: W. W. Norton, 1995. 288 pp. $22.00.

Americans have always been divided sented by the American Framers has concerning the kind of democracy been politically and intellectually that the Framers created. Since the challenged by populism and kindred time of the Founding, the very mean- ideologies since its inception. The ing of democracy has been in dispute populist movement of the late nine- in American culture. Two traditions teenth century, for example, captured are discernable in American political the imaginations of Americans who thought: one believes that America is tended to blame the political, social, too democratic, the other that it is not and economic failures of the day on democratic enough. America’s elites. The populist pre- At the heart of the debate regard- scription at that time was typical of ing American democracy and the populism: reform the constitutional Constitution is the role of elites. Begin- system. Populist and Progressive re- ning with the Antifederalists, a dis- forms decreased the power of elites trust of elites inspired opposition to and empowered “the people.” the Constitution. In fact, the tradition Populism has become a major ideo- of American political thought repre- logical influence in contemporary

Populism vs. Elitism HUMANITAS • 73 American politics. Both Democrats Revolt of the Elites. These works dis- and Republicans, liberals and conser- cuss various aspects of populism in vatives, commonly use populist rheto- America such as its historical, eco- ric and promote populist public poli- nomic, and social origins. cies. The “Contract with America” American populism is not a politi- incorporates several populist themes, cally monolithic ideological move- among them the call for congressional ment. It manifests itself at different term limits. Ross Perot has capitalized times in a wide range of historical cir- on populist sentiment in proposing cumstances. It is advocated by conser- the creation of a third political party. vatives, liberals, libertarians, and These reforms and others are based other ideological groups. The mean- on the premise that the current politi- ing of populism is easily obscured if cal elites cannot be trusted and that its fundamental philosophical identity political power is more responsibly is divorced from the particular politi- exercised by the people. cal forms it takes. The search for the The recent resurgence of populism deeper meaning of populism requires in American politics is driven by two a marriage of political theory and his- primary factors. One is the intellectual tory. and political tradition represented by We learn what populism is partly such figures as Thomas Paine, Tho- by examining the particular historical mas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, and circumstances in which it has oc- William Jennings Bryan. The other curred. These three books examine a factor is the growing discontent with significant portion of the American America’s political leadership. Popu- populist experience. But understand- lism has become a more attractive re- ing and assessing populism also re- sponse to political, social, and eco- quires a theoretical framework within nomic troubles because the elite class which it can be analyzed. Without seems incapable of providing the such a framework, the difficult ques- quality of leadership that is necessary tions and issues raised by populism for good government. will not receive the critical reflection The populist challenge to the that is necessary to give populism a American constitutional order has re- fair hearing. For example, what is the ceived increasing attention from philosophical and historical basis for scholars. Three recent books address populism’s disdain of elites? Is this various aspects of the populist move- disdain historically and philosophi- ment in America, and they all share a cally well-grounded? Or is populism common feature. In one way or an- merely a ploy by demagogues to other, they attempt to answer the wrestle power from the current elite? question, “Is populism right for If there is no historical and philosophi- America?” The three books are C. H. cal ground for replacing elites with Hoebeke’s The Road to Mass Democ- “the popular will,” then populism’s racy, Michael Kazin’s The Populist Per- challenge to the American constitu- suasion, and Christopher Lasch’s The tional order will be viewed differently

74 • Volume VIII, No. 2, 1995 Michael P. Federici than if there is such a ground. Conse- Although Kazin fails to acknowledge quently, in assessing Hoebeke’s, it, the rhetoric of populism has an un- Kazin’s, and Lasch’s work, attention derlying theoretical foundation. In will be given to their respective his- fact, his analysis of the language of torical and philosophical frameworks populism indicates that he is sympa- and to their ability to penetrate to the thetic to that theoretical core. experiential sources of populism. For Kazin sees it as his task, however, it is that core experience that provides not to elucidate what populism is as insights into the challenge of popu- much as to editorialize about good lism and that also provides a standard and bad populism. In short, right- by which to judge the efficacy of wing populism is bad and left-wing populism as a response to the disorder populism is good. Populism has a of the age. rather specific content according to All writers on the subject are not Kazin. Its primary objective is a more predisposed to systematic philosophi- equal distribution of wealth and the cal analysis. Yet, most of the work on empowerment of minorities and populism implies a philosophical un- women. It is clear that Kazin’s egali- derstanding of what populism is, tarianism colors his assessment of even if the author claims to be simply populism. Populism, for him, is a describing history. An author’s philo- means of reshaping America. He as- sophical assumptions can be teased sumes that the masses, if given the out of a work that includes at least political power and led by the right some critical analysis. elites, would implement his “non- Kazin’s book explicitly shies away Communist Left” agenda. He believes from theoretical analysis. It is a ram- that “mass democracy can topple any bling, at times disjointed, description haughty foe.” Thus The Populist Per- of populism. The Populist Persuasion suasion is not really an analysis of attempts to analyze populism by ex- populism but a political tract. ploring the history of populist rheto- Contrary to Kazin’s analysis of ric. Kazin considers the words of populism, Hoebeke’s study of mass populist leaders the best illustration of democracy is theoretical as well as populism’s meaning and importance. historical. Unlike Kazin, he views He makes no attempt to discover or populism as both politically and ideo- explain the roots of populism. He as- logically inconsistent with the politi- sumes that populist rhetoric speaks cal and philosophical tradition of the for itself. He does attempt to provide American Framers. Kazin’s book pro- a basic definition of populism: “a lan- vides a broad history of populism di- guage whose speakers conceive of or- vorced from philosophical analysis. dinary people as a noble assemblage The Road to Mass Democracy examines not bounded narrowly by class, view a particular populist event, the adop- their elite opponents as self-serving tion of the Seventeenth Amendment, and undemocratic, and seek to mobi- and uses it to discover the theoretical lize the former against the latter” (1). features of populism. It should be

Populism vs. Elitism HUMANITAS • 75 noted that Hoebeke does not use the Amendment neither decreased the in- term “populism” to describe the push fluence of special interests nor for the Seventeenth Amendment. He changed the type of people who serve labels it “progressive.” But it is clear in the Senate. The Seventeenth from his work that there are no sig- Amendment was a case of states’ ab- nificant philosophical differences be- dicating their power to the voting tween populism and progressivism, at public; the amendment was ratified least as far as the Seventeenth Amend- by the states. Hoebeke suggests that ment is concerned. Hoebeke’s pri- the movement toward mass democ- mary concern is with populism’s ef- racy is now taking place at the federal fect on American democracy. He level of government. Members of views the political movement that Congress who support term limits, for succeeded in passing the Seventeenth example, seem willing to abdicate Amendment as indicative of demo- their power to the people. These at- cratic reforms that have as their ulti- tempts to reform the American politi- mate objective the removal of institu- cal system by making it more demo- tional restraints on the popular will. cratic are considered unwise by He considers such reforms dangerous Hoebeke, because they have not been because “The premise underlying all tested against historical experience. these innovations in our form of gov- Populist reformers have moved the ernment is that the direct expression country toward mass democracy by of the people more accurately reflects claiming that they are restoring the general sense of the community American democracy to its pure form. and is less corruptible than judgments Special interests have distorted the made by small assemblies invested political system, and populist reforms with only temporary authority” (4). will restore it. Unfortunately these re- Hoebeke demonstrates that what may formers misunderstand the nature of seem from its rhetoric to be empow- the American constitutional system. ering the people turns out, in the case One of its primary purposes is to al- of the Seventeenth Amendment, to low for thwarting the people’s will or make government less, rather than at least, to use Madison’s words, for more, accountable to the people. refining and enlarging it. For Hoe- The arguments made by the advo- beke, then, populism is not a prudent cates of the Seventeenth Amendment remedy for American political and included the idea that the amendment social disorder. would decrease the influence of spe- Christopher Lasch’s book The Revolt cial interests, especially moneyed in- of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democ- terests, and make senators more re- racy is a fascinating commentary on sponsive to the people. It was also the state of American culture. Our cul- hoped that the amendment would ture—the common attitudes, tradi- change the class of individuals who tions, and customs that make us what served in the Senate. Hoebeke’s study we are—is the foundation for our sys- concludes that the Seventeenth tem of government. It is inconceiv-

76 • Volume VIII, No. 2, 1995 Michael P. Federici able, Lasch argues, that the American new elite leaves family and commu- political system could have been cre- nity responsibility behind to search for ated apart from the culture of eigh- wealth and status; its members are not teenth-century America or the culture self-reliant. Consequently, govern- of Western civilization more generally. ment must provide the care for fam- The current state of our culture, as ily and community. The new elite has Lasch points out, seems unable to sup- abdicated its responsibility to itself port our political institutions. Crime, and society. The resulting decline in drugs, corruption, teenage suicide, il- American communities, Lasch be- legitimacy, and a host of other prob- lieves, calls into question the future of lems call into question the viability of democracy in America. It is the elite American democracy. Lasch provides class that has betrayed democracy. In an insightful analysis of the new cul- fact, Lasch contrasts his analysis with tural elite and a comparison between José Ortega y Gasset’s in The Revolt of it and the old cultural elite. He is es- the Masses. Ortega blamed the crisis of pecially critical of the contemporary Western culture on the political rise of moneyed elite. Unlike the old elite, the masses. Lasch attributes the cur- members of the New Class have little rent cultural crisis to the revolt of the sense of stewardship. Their selfish- elites. ness has made them abandon their Today it is the elites . . . those who family and community roots because control the international flow of “[a]mbitious people understand . . . money and information, preside that a migratory way of life is the over philanthropic foundations price of getting ahead. It is a price and institutions of higher learn- they gladly pay, since they associate ing, manage the instruments of the idea of home with intrusive rela- cultural production and thus set the terms of public debate . . . that tives and neighbors, small-minded have lost faith in the values, or gossip, and hidebound conventions” what remains of them, of the West (5). Lasch claims that the new elites (25-26). are “in revolt against ‘Middle America’ ” or at least what they imag- The cultural elite has severed itself ine it to be. The New Aristocracy, as from the masses. Elites not only de- he calls it, tends to live on the coasts spise what the masses believe, but where life is exciting, money is fast- they feel no obligation to cultivate a moving, and culture, so they believe, relationship with them. They isolate is on the cutting edge. themselves geographically, intellectu- Lasch sees this new aristocracy as ally, and in every other way from the a significant cause of American masses. In essence, Lasch describes democracy’s decline. “Democracy two cultures. One is the culture of the works best when men and women do coastal elites, highly individualistic, things for themselves, with the help secular, intellectual, and economically of friends and neighbors, instead of prosperous. The other is the culture of depending on the state” (7-8). But the the Heartland. It is oriented to com-

Populism vs. Elitism HUMANITAS • 77 munity, family, religion, common also finds hope in the masses. While sense, and the values of middle-class the elites have betrayed democracy by economics. Lasch looks to various cul- revolting from Western values, the tural institutions for signs of hope and masses cling to them. Lasch writes of finds few. The mass-media elites, for the masses, example, are incapable of presenting their political instincts are demon- information in a way that would en- strably more conservative than courage the common people to take those of their self-appointed an interest in politics and culture. He spokesmen and would-be libera- blames Walter Lippmann for disre- tors. It is the working and lower garding the ability of the masses to middle classes, after all, that favor understand public policy. The people limits on abortion, cling to the two-parent family as a source of would be more informed if journalists stability in a turbulent world, re- would abandon the Lippmann model sist experiments with “alternative of reporting information, e.g., writing lifestyles,” and harbor deep reser- for policy makers and not the people. vations about affirmative action The universities and churches are and other ventures in large-scale also institutions that provide little social engineering (27). hope. Both, Lasch claims, are divided by the political left and right. Both left It is this sentiment in Lasch’s book and right share the same premise: a that leads the reader to conclude that set of unquestioned dogmas is needed he embraces populism. If the elites are before American culture can regain its rotten, let the people lead the country. bearings. As people become dogmatic, But Lasch’s faith in the people is quali- public discourse becomes difficult. fied. Our cultural infrastructure must For example, political correctness in be rebuilt. The idea that market the university stifles meaningful dis- mechanisms are the solution to our cussion about important cultural is- problems should be rejected. Popu- sues. Only those who embrace the lism can play a role in the restoration “correct” dogma are invited to the of culture because it opposes the two public square to participate in a dia- primary causes of the American cul- logue about the meaning of American tural crisis: the market and the wel- society. fare state. Lasch’s remedy is a mixture What does Lasch think is the appro- of populism and communitarianism, priate response to the betrayal of de- combining the left’s disdain for the mocracy in America? Throughout the market and the right’s disdain for the book he mentions some hopeful de- welfare state. We must look outside velopments. The revival of Dewey’s the conventional debate for efficacious pragmatism is an example. Lasch is solutions to the crisis of democracy. not clear about what he means, but he Commentators on Lasch’s book seems to imply that Dewey’s pragma- have credited him with a new and cre- tism allows for a rejection of dogma ative vision for America. While The without declining into nihilism. He Revolt of the Elites is an intriguing and

78 • Volume VIII, No. 2, 1995 Michael P. Federici thoughtful analysis, it is by no means book. There is a journalistic aspect to original. Russell Kirk, for one, has Kazin’s volume that leaves the serious made similar arguments for the past reader wanting for a more penetrat- forty years. His brand of conservatism ing analysis. Both books present ideas rejects both the market and the state worth considering, but readers must as the foundation for political and so- look elsewhere for deeper analysis. cial order. Lasch never mentions Kirk Hoebeke’s book, although more lim- in The Revolt of the Elites, although the ited in its historical scope than those similarity between their arguments is of Kazin and Lasch, probes the es- striking on topics like neighborhoods, sence of populism much more deeply. materialism, and the new elite. There Not coincidentally, Hoebeke rejects are ultimately important differences populism and the “empowerment” of between Kirk and Lasch (on religion the people as a prudent prescription for example), but Kirk’s contribution for the political and cultural crisis. But deserves consideration. Lasch and Kazin embrace it. Lasch Although The Revolt of the Elites wraps his populism in a cultural ethos identifies the source of the cultural cri- that limits many of its dangers, sis in America, Lasch’s embrace of whereas Kazin is scarcely aware of populism is poorly supported. As the deeper problems of populism. Un- Hoebeke notes, the value of populism like Lasch, he does not acknowledge ultimately depends on how it stands the moral void in the New Class; in up to historical, and I would add fact, his analysis itself represents the philosophical, scrutiny. Lasch fails to very type of cultural elitism that Lasch consider the philosophical and histori- rejects. Those who quickly dismiss cal meaning of populism. He usually populism as a response to the disor- qualifies his references to populism der of the age will find a challenging with the statement “as I understand argument in The Revolt of the Elite. it,” but he never subjects the concept Hoebeke’s analysis is at times too cat- to rigorous analysis. Lasch simply ig- egorical in its criticism of populism. nores the substantial body of scholarly Combining aspects of Hoebeke’s and work on populism and relies instead Lasch’s work provides an interesting on rather vague notions of what it is. venue for assessing populism and the The same lack of rigorous philosophi- state of American democracy. cal analysis is characteristic of Kazin’s

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