Jay Cost JUNE 2018

“The Humble Members of Society”

UNDERSTANDING POPULISM IN THE UNITED STATES

Jay Cost JUNE 2018

AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE Executive Summary

his report traces the antiestablishment roots well-born, and connected to hijack republican gov- Tof populism, arguing that it is a manifestation ernment, denying the rightful rule of the people and of the principal problem inherent to representative ensconcing the elite in permanent power. government. In the Anglo-American political uni- As industrial capitalism facilitated vast inequali- verse, it first appeared in the early 18th century in the ties of wealth and power, the ancient anxieties have ways the Country Whigs modified the English Com- been notably persistent—such as the agrarian Popu- monwealth tradition to attack the economic policies lists and Bull Moose Progressives, the George Wallace of Robert Walpole. phenomenon, and finally the tea party and Trump Migrating to America after the Seven Years’ War, movement. While the complaints of each faction are it manifested itself in the Anti-Federalist opposition different in the specifics, the underlying grievance, to the Constitution, Jeffersonian complaints about that the privileged few have interfered with the con- Hamiltonian economics, and Jacksonian democracy. nection between the people and their elected leaders, In all these instances, populist antiestablishment sen- has been notably consistent. timent envisioned a kind of conspiracy of the wealthy,

“The Humble Members of Society”

UNDERSTANDING POPULISM IN THE UNITED STATES

Jay Cost

onald Trump’s election in 2016 has widely been Populism as Republican Critique Dheralded as a populist moment. But what is populism exactly? The term is often employed, but Populism is not primarily a substantive view of pol- its meaning is vague and ambiguous. One thing, at itics. This is not to say that populism does not have least, is sure: It need not actually be popular. Trump, a policy agenda but rather that it is secondary to the after all, lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton and essence of the position. If I told you I am a protec- won a smaller share of it than did Mitt Romney—the tionist, you would know where I stand on the mat- ultimate non-populist. Beyond that, though, popu- ter of industrial policy. Similarly, if I told you I am a lism is clouded in mystery, as a range of disparate neoconservative, you would know where I stand on groups—such as the Jeffersonians and Jacksonians foreign affairs. However, populist has different policy of the early republic, the agrarians of the late 19th implications, depending on the period of American century, the George Wallace voters in the 1960s, history—and the phrase is loose enough that it can and the tea party of today—have claimed the mantle mean different things to different people in the same of populism. time. Nowadays, populists can be Ron Paul “gold- This report will seek to clarify populism by identi- bugs,” nationalists like Donald Trump, or tea party fying it as a style of republican politics, in particular advocates aligned with Ted Cruz. populism’s anxiety about the principal-agent prob- Instead, populism is mainly a formal critique of lem inherent to representative government. It will politics. “Populism” (based on the Latin populus, infer additional qualities of populism by examining meaning people) suggests a critique related to the populist movements across time, beginning with the republican political tradition (“republican,” from the Country Whigs of the early 18th century. Populists Latin res publica, or “affair of the people”). Specifi- are often, though not always, on the losing side of cally, populism has historically registered a complaint socioeconomic shifts. They typically impute dark against representative government that is consis- motives to their political opponents, who tend to tent with the principal-agent problem noted by pub- be wealthy and proximate to the seat of governing lic choice economics. As Kenneth Shepsle and Mark authority. Their politics tend to be nostalgic, rooted Bonchek argue, “In a principal-agent relationship it in the fear of losing power that was once comfort- is the principal who stipulates what he wants done, ably possessed, and restorative, pledging to bring relying upon the agent’s concern for her reputation, back the “good old days.” appropriate incentives, and other control mecha- nisms to secure compliance with his wishes.”1 However, the agent can have “missions, interests, and objectives of their own that may conflict with those of the” principal.2 Republican government relies

3 “THE HUMBLE MEMBERS OF SOCIETY” JAY COST

on the principle of representation to, as James Madi- properly assess a representative’s behavior can be pro- son put it in Federalist No. 10, “refine and enlarge the hibitively expensive, especially the farther one is from public views, by passing them through the medium the seat of government. (This is less of a problem now, of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best in the age of telecommunications, but it had long been discern the true interest of their country, and whose a concern of populists in previous generations.) patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to Put another way, populism at its foundation is sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations.”3 an argument that republican government—or gov- In other words, elected representatives are the agents ernment “of the people, by the people, and for the of the voters, who are the principals. But as Madi- people,” as Abraham Lincoln put it in the Gettys- son noted in the “Vices of the Political System of the burg Address—has been corrupted. Representatives United States,” the principal-agent problem can eas- are not responding to the interests of their constit- ily manifest itself as representatives pursue their own uents in their home districts; instead, they are seek- agenda: ing honor, wealth, or esteem from the elites in and around the Capitol. Representative appointments are sought from It is from this similar, formal complaint that popu- 3 motives. 1. ambition 2. personal interest. 3. public list movements level different substantive grievances good. Unhappily the two first are proved by experi- of government. In the populist telling, if representa- ence to be most prevalent. Hence the candidates who tive governments were functioning properly (i.e., if the feel them, particularly, the second, are most industri- principals were actually being loyal to their agents), ous, and most successful in pursuing their object: and then the particular policy demands of the populists forming often a majority in the legislative Councils, would be enacted, for the populists represent the with interested views, contrary to the interest, and interests of the people. Whether this is actually true views, of their Constituents, join in a perfidious sacri- is, of course, a debatable matter on the merits. Still, fice of the latter to the former.4 the broader point remains: The policy demands are incidental to the populism itself, which at its essence This problem, inherent to representative govern- is a republican critique of the government. ment, is the basis of most populist critiques—even as With this theoretical foundation in place, we can the substantive agenda of this or that populist move- identify a variety of movements over the course of ment shifts over time. modern political history as being properly populist in Populism is typically rooted in two disadvantages that they attack the practice of government for being that the principals (or voters) have vis-à-vis their a corrupted version of republicanism. This historical agents (or representatives in government). The first analysis will, in turn, enable us to identify additional disadvantage is monetary. As Madison suggested, rep- tendencies inherent to populist movements. resentatives in government are interested in the glory and honor that comes from office and personal mone- From the Country Whigs to the tary benefits that can be obtained from public service. Jeffersonians The voters are often not in a position to bestow these bounties, and representatives can be drawn to those The prototype for American populism emerged in factions—typically wealthier and situated higher on England in the early 18th century in response to the the socioeconomic scale—that can. implementation of a modern financial program spear- The second, closely related disadvantage is informa- headed by Prime Minister Robert Walpole. The Wal- tional, which often contains a geographic component. pole agenda emphasized a permanent debt, managed Namely, it is difficult for the principals to monitor by the Bank of England and financed by tariffs and the agents and to make sure that they are remaining land taxes. This enabled England to borrow virtually true to their interests. The information required to unlimited sums of money, transforming the tiny island

4 “THE HUMBLE MEMBERS OF SOCIETY” JAY COST

nation into a world power. But it did not sit well with principal-agent program—by buying off Parliament, a constituency that came to be known as the Country the king and his ministers had effectively robbed the Whigs—polemicists such as Lord Bolingbroke, John people of their voice and destroyed the constitution. Trenchard, Thomas Gordon, and James Burgh. But note as well the nostalgic orientation of the argu- The Country Whigs situated themselves within ment—the idea being that there once was something the political philosophy of James Harrington, who approaching a pristine republic but that it had since argued that the landed gentry was the mainstay of been lost. republican government. This class possessed the The Country Whigs were highly useful to the independence, virtue, and intrepidness to fulfill the American revolutionaries of the 1760s and 1770s, duties of citizenship. The Country Whigs argued that, for they described a government that had become with its emphasis on finance, the Walpole program degraded, which in turn enhanced the colonists’ rhe- replaced agriculture with commerce, republican vir- torical case for independence. Interestingly, Coun- tue with stockjobbing greed, and independence with try Whiggism reemerged in a strictly American a slavish dependence on the vicissitudes of the finan- context in arguments against ratifying the Constitu- cial markets. tion, which suggests a certain quality of populism to Moreover, the Country Whigs argued that the Brit- the Anti-Federalists. ish monarchy was using patronage to buy off mem- The Federalist advocates of the Constitution bers of Parliament—historically the bastion of the believed that a stronger national union was neces- landed gentry—to implement this program. The sary for the preservation of self-government in the British monarchy’s Civil List—the funds the mon- young nation. Madison articulated this view most arch had without a parliamentary grant—was used to succinctly in Federalist No. 10, where he called for a offer patronage as the demands of the Walpole sys- broad, diverse polity so that no faction would domi- tem required. So-called rotten boroughs filled Parlia- nate the others. But this view ran contrary to conven- ment with members who had no real constituencies. tional wisdom at the time regarding republicanism, Phony titles of nobility distributed strategically could especially that espoused by Montesquieu, whose tip the balance in the House of Lords. And military Spirit of the Laws was widely read. For instance, sinecures could transform members of Parliament Anti-Federalist Melancton Smith argued that “the into servants of the king. In other words, argued the idea that naturally suggests itself to our minds, when Country Whigs, money and patronage were corrupt- we speak of representatives is, that they resemble ing Harrington’s simple republicanism. those they represent; they should be a true picture In A Dissertation upon Parties, Bolingbroke wrote: of the people; possess the knowledge of their circum- stances and their wants; sympathize in all their dis- By the corruption of Parliament, and the abso- tresses, and be disposed to seek their true interests.”6 lute influence of a King, or his minister, on the two Similarly, the pseudonymous Federal Farmer urged Houses, we return into that state, to deliver or secure that representative government required “a same- us from which Parliaments were instituted, and are ness, as to residence and interests, between the rep- really governed by the arbitrary will of one man. Our resentative and his constituents; and by the election whole constitution is at once dissolved. Many secu- by a majority, he is sure to be the man, the choice of rities to liberty are provided, but the integrity which more than half of them.”7 depends on the freedom and the independency of These complaints can be understood in terms of Parliament, is the keystone that keeps the whole the principal-agent problem that drives populist anxi- thing together.5 ety. In an extended republic such as that proposed by the Federalists, there would not be enough represen- This passage illustrates key themes of subsequent tatives to create a similitude of sentiments between populist rhetoric. Note firstly the invocation of the the principals and their agents. And, in a theme that

5 “THE HUMBLE MEMBERS OF SOCIETY” JAY COST

would become quite common to populism, many hide behind the august figure of Washington, and in Anti-Federalists suspected dark motives. The pseud- this regard Madison and Jefferson believed, as the onymous Centinel suggested that the Constitution Anti-Federalists did, that the old general was being was a plot by the “wealthy and ambitious.” By gaining duped by designing and malicious men. And to win the the “concurrence of the two men in whom America requisite votes in Congress, Madison reckoned that has the highest confidence”—namely, George Wash- Hamilton was using his financial program to effec- ington and Benjamin Franklin—they could complete tively bribe members of the legislature. In a pointed their “long meditated schemes of power and aggran- essay titled “Spirit of Governments,” he denounced dizement.”8 Federal Farmer named Robert Morris, Hamiltonianism in strident terms: the wealthy financier of the revolution who “avari- ciously grasp[ed] at all power and property” because A government operating by corrupt influence; sub- he disliked “free and equal government” and wished stituting the motive of private interest in place of “to change, essentially, the form of government in this public duty; converting its pecuniary dispensations country.”9 In the populist mindset, popular govern- into bounties to favorites, or bribes to opponents; ment is often under threat from a cabal of the wealthy accommodating its measures to the avidity of a part few, who have in mind the corruption of the link of the nation instead of the benefit of the whole: in between representative and citizen. a word, enlisting an army of interested partizans, whose tongues, whose pens, whose intrigues, and whose active combinations, by supplying the terror of the sword, may support a real domination of the In the populist mindset, few, under an apparent liberty of the many.10 popular government is The influence of Bolingbroke and the Country Whigs is obvious in this passage. Madison was basi- often under threat from cally arguing that the principal-agent relationship had been corrupted by money. The result was that the a cabal of the wealthy republic was being destroyed, even though citizens retained the nominal right to vote. few. It is notable how seamlessly these ideas became part and parcel of the American political psychology. Madison would have none of this, at least not Many people, not just average citizens but estima- during the ratification debates. But he too would ble leaders such as Madison, were easily convinced come to suspect dark forces of oligarchy at work, via that the nation’s experiment in self-government Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton’s system was fragile, that the wealthy few were looking to of finance. Although he and Hamilton had worked destroy it, and that the primary means by which together during the 1780s, they broke in the 1790s they would do this was by corrupting the represen- over the issues of debt, banking, and industrial protec- tative process. Notice as well that there is a fear of tion. In opposition, Madison penned a series of essays loss inherent to these narratives. The Republicans, for the National Gazette, which remain an urtext for the Anti-Federalists, and even the Country Whigs understanding American populism. assumed that the body politic in a previous instance Madison believed that Hamilton was trying to had been a true republic, but now it was all com- transform the new republic into a monarchy—against ing undone. This would become another consis- the manifest wishes of the people at large. This plot, tent theme of populism—a nostalgic posture that he believed, was double pronged. The first was to endeavors to protect the old ways.

6 “THE HUMBLE MEMBERS OF SOCIETY” JAY COST

Populism in the 19th and Early control. “Doubtless excesses frequently attend par- 20th Centuries ties and produce many evils,” Van Buren admitted, but they were on balance essential to government. Thomas Jefferson’s victory in the election of 1800 sug- “The disposition to abuse power, so deeply planted gested that political parties may help reduce the costs in the human heart, can by no other means be more of the principal-agent problem. By “facilitat[ing] a effectually checked.”13 general intercourse of sentiments,” as Madison put it, The parties would find a reliable source of funds the party press could inform voters of the goings-on via patronage, or the distribution of jobs, honors, and in government.11 A party system of nominations could emoluments from the government. Jackson initiated ensure good candidates. And party discipline in the this by what he called “rotation” in office. In his 1829 legislature could minimize defectors. Yet by and large presidential message, he argued that “no one man the Republicans did not see their impressive organi- has any more intrinsic right to official station than zation as a permanent feature of politics but rather another. Offices were not established to give support a temporary expedient to deal with the unique Ham- to particular men at the public expense.” Thus, in his iltonian threat. As James Monroe told Andrew Jack- view, “Rotation . . . constitutes a leading principle in son in 1817, permanent parties in other nations were the republican creed.”14 due to “certain defects in those governments, rather Jackson also struck at the institution that he than in human nature . . . and we have happily avoided believed was trying to upend his administration: the those defects in our system.”12 Second Bank of the United States. Jackson brought to But the populist revival of the 1820s and 1830s office a prejudice against banks and a preference for saw the reemergence of party politics, along with the hard currency. Like many conservative Jeffersonians, explicit argument that they were essential to popular he believed that the Second Bank—chartered by Mad- control over government. The leader of this resur- ison in 1816—was a source of oligarchic authority gence was Andrew Jackson, who was jilted in the elec- that threatened the republican character of the gov- tion of 1824 by what his supporters deemed a “corrupt ernment. When Congress presented him with a bill bargain.” Although he had won a plurality in the mul- to recharter it in 1832, he vetoed it. His fiery defense ticandidate presidential contest, he was denied a vic- of the veto argued that “when the laws . . . make the tory in the House of Representatives because Speaker rich richer and the potent more powerful, the hum- Henry Clay swung the delegations of several states ble members of society—the farmers, mechanics, and to John Quincy Adams, even though their voters had laborers—who have neither the time nor the means backed Jackson. Adams then named Clay secretary of of securing like favors to themselves, have a right to state, which the Jackson faction denounced as a bla- complain of the injustice of their Government.”15 tant quid pro quo. It seemed, once again, that a cabal While the Republicans of the 1790s articulated a of elites had hijacked American democracy. populist message, Jackson was the first president to For the next 12 years, Jackson would make it his govern as a populist. These various actions—reinvig- personal crusade to take back power for the people, orating party, implementing rotation in office, and making Jacksonian democracy another populist force vetoing the Second Bank recharter—all suggest anxi- in the nation. Many of Jackson’s maneuvers had a ety about the principal-agent relationship at the heart distinctly populist bent to them, as he consistently of republican government. Jackson, Van Buren, and framed his endeavors as making government prop- their allies believed that it had become corrupted; erly responsible to the people. His most durable leg- that a permanent governing class had installed itself acy was creating a permanent political party, which in power, independent of the popular will; and that it came to be known as the Democratic Party. As Martin was up to them to root it out. The Republicans of the Van Buren, Jackson’s right-hand man, would describe 1790s had suggested that they would do this, but when in his autobiography, parties were essential to public they acquired power, they made generally moderate

7 “THE HUMBLE MEMBERS OF SOCIETY” JAY COST

adjustments to the Federalist status quo. The Jackson the possessors of these, in turn despise the Republic men, on the other hand, were looking to transform and endanger liberty. From the same prolific womb politics, soup to nuts. And they succeeded. of governmental injustice we breed the two great classes—tramps and millionaires.16

There are some ancient republican ideals here—in While the Republicans particular, the decline of civic virtue and the hollow- ing out of the middle class as a clique of oligarchs who of the 1790s articulated hate self-government take control. And how have they been able to do that? The Populists answered: cor- a populist message, rupting the legislature, degrading the ballot box, and even stifling First Amendment rights—notably the Jackson was the first freedom of the press and of assembly. In other words, the principal-agent problem was again threatening president to govern as republicanism. Obviously, the Populists are speak- ing to a decidedly industrialized America, but these a populist. sorts of complaints date back to the Country Whigs and had been invoked several times before in Amer- It is a testament to the ambiguous policy agenda of ican history. populism that in the 1830s the populists were advo- The Democrats of 1896, under William Jennings cates of “hard currency” but that in the 1890s they Bryan’s leadership, poached the main Populist issue, called for inflation, demanding the unlimited coinage bimetallism, without picking a fight with Republi- of silver on a 16:1 ratio with gold. Nevertheless, the cans on the broader issue of corruption, but Populist Populist Party of the 1890s had a decidedly Jacksonian ideas would return with the Bull Moose Progressives view about the relationship between government and of 1912, whose party platform had a decidedly Whig- citizen. The preamble of the 1892 Populist Party plat- gish bent to it: form harkened back to old Jeffersonian notions: Political parties exist to secure responsible govern- We meet in the midst of a nation brought to the ment and to execute the will of the people. verge of moral, political, and material ruin. Cor- From these great tasks both of the old parties ruption dominates the ballot-box, the Legislatures, have turned aside. Instead of instruments to pro- the Congress, and touches even the ermine of the mote the general welfare, they have become the bench. The people are demoralized. . . . The news- tools of corrupt interests which use them impartially papers are largely subsidized or muzzled, public to serve their selfish purposes. Behind the ostensible opinion silenced, business prostrated, homes cov- government sits enthroned an invisible government ered with mortgages, labor impoverished, and the owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsi- land concentrating in the hands of capitalists. The bility to the people. urban workmen are denied the right to organize for To destroy this invisible government, to dissolve self-protection; imported pauperized labor beats the unholy alliance between corrupt business and down their wages, a hireling standing army, unrec- corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship ognized by our laws, is established to shoot them of the day.17 down, and they are rapidly degenerating into Euro- pean conditions. The fruits of the toil of millions Note the acknowledgement of Van Buren’s view of are boldly stolen to build up colossal fortunes for a parties—namely, that they are integral to the mainte- few, unprecedented in the history of mankind; and nance of good government. However, the Progressives

8 “THE HUMBLE MEMBERS OF SOCIETY” JAY COST

believed that this function had been corrupted by the The AIP once again leaned on populist ideas to wealthy oligarchs, just like those who had riled up the make its case, arguing that the principle of repre- Populists a generation earlier. sentation had been degraded in the nation. Whereas populist movements of the past had named wealthy oligarchs who had corrupted the legislature, the AIP Postwar Populism blamed the unelected federal judiciary for overstep- ping its boundaries. The party’s 1968 platform read: Populism as a political or ideological movement more or less disappeared for a generation after the In the period of the past three decades, we have seen election of Franklin Roosevelt, whose tenure even- the Federal judiciary, primarily the Supreme Court, tually pushed left-wing movements such as commu- transgress repeatedly upon the prerogatives of the nism and socialism outside the political mainstream. Congress and exceed its authority by enacting judi- The New Deal brought about a repurposing of gov- cial legislation, in the form of decisions based upon ernmental agency, around the “humble members of political and sociological considerations, which society” as Jackson put it. And Republicans during would never have been enacted by the Congress. We this period generally favored maintaining the New have seen them, in their solicitude for the criminal Deal as it was. and lawless element of our society, shackle the police But after the civil rights movement achieved its and other law enforcement agencies; and, as a result, greatest results in the mid-1960s, there was a back- they have made it increasingly difficult to protect the lash among many southern and urban white voters. As law-abiding citizen from crime and criminals. This Theodore White put it in The Making of the President is one of the principal reasons for the turmoil and 1968, the “share-out,” the great New Deal endeavor the near revolutionary conditions which prevail in of spreading the wealth among the masses, had “run our country today, and particularly in our national its course”: capitol. The members of the Federal judiciary, feel- ing secure in their knowledge that their appointment In pursuit of the philosophy of share-out, the John- is for life, have far exceeded their constitutional son administration had come to consideration of authority, which is limited to interpreting or constru- that last group still clamoring for its share—the ing the law.19 unfortunate and underprivileged black population of America. Here, however, was a faultline that the old In response, the AIP called for the popular election philosophy of share-out could not straddle; for what of the judiciary as a way to increase public control the blacks clamored to share was not only money, over a branch that was growing markedly in power. jobs and material things but such intangibles as dig- The populism of the segregationist AIP—as well nity and equality. And the sharing that was demanded as the general racist tenor of 19th-century politics— in this quest was demanded not from the affluent so has often led some to conclude that populism is itself much as from white workingmen, who were asked racist. But this is not the case, at least on a theoret- also to share their schools, neighborhoods, and ical level. Populism is primarily a lament about the places of amusement with the blacks.18 decline of democratic accountability, which gives it a nostalgic quality. This can, and in the case of the 1968 This frustration gave rise to a third party, the AIP it actually did, lend itself to racism—as voters American Independent Party (AIP), helmed by Ala- previously in sole or dominant possession of politi- bama Gov. George Wallace, who not only carried sev- cal power are averse to sharing it with racial or eth- eral states in the Deep South in the 1968 election but nic minorities who now come to claim their fair share also won sizable shares of the vote in major urban of governing authority. Because populism is primarily counties in the Midwest. anxious about the politics of loss, it can be a posture

9 “THE HUMBLE MEMBERS OF SOCIETY” JAY COST

adopted by those who fear rising minority popula- It is a concerted effort by corporate lobbyists and tions and therefore can be seen as racism. Yet it need establishment politicians. Lobbyists and career politi- not be the case. cians make up the Washington Cartel. Let me explain In the past decade, populism has once again to you how it works: A bill is set to come before Con- returned—although it remains a politically inchoate gress, and career politicians’ ears and wallets are open relative to the Populist Party and AIP. Instead, it is to the highest bidder. Corrupt backroom deals result more a sentiment infusing the conservative wing of in one interest group getting preferences over the the Republican Party, given particular voice by sev- other, although you give the other a chance to outbid eral prominent figures such as Ted Cruz and Donald them. Or even worse, a very small interest group get- Trump. ting special carve-outs at the expense of taxpayers.20

This is an argument that the principal-agent problem has corrupted representative government and is Populism is primarily thus consistent with longtime populist grievances. Cruz is not the only one who made such claims. a lament about the Donald Trump, the eventual winner of the nomination battle, complained—sometimes bitterly—about decline of democratic such a cartel. In his 2016 nomination address, he said: accountability, which [Special interests] have rigged our political and economic system for their exclusive benefit. Big busi- gives it a nostalgic ness, elite media and major donors are lining up behind the campaign of my opponent because they quality. know [Hillary Clinton] will keep our rigged system in place. They are throwing money at her because they Consider, for instance, the tea party—even the have total control over everything she does. She is name itself harkens back to populism. The com- their puppet, and they pull the strings.21 plaint of the Boston Tea Party from 1773 was that the British Prime Minister Lord North had slapped a tax Trump echoed these claims when he was sworn in on colonial tea without the consent of the colonies. In as America’s 45th president, giving a fire-and-brim- other words, the objection was at least in part a mat- stone speech reminiscent of old Jacksonianism: ter of political power. For conservative insurgents to adopt the moniker tea party, rather than some- Today we are not merely transferring power from thing more anodyne, suggests a level of populist one administration to another or from one party to frustration. another, but we are transferring power from Wash- As he campaigned for president in 2016, Ted Cruz ington, DC, and giving it back to you, the people. gave voice to this frustration by frequent references For too long, a small group in our Nation’s Capi- to the “Washington cartel”—a telling phrase. A car- tal has reaped the rewards of Government while the tel, after all, is an alliance of seemingly disparate people have borne the cost. Washington flourished, actors looking to control or regulate the output of but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians some good. In Cruz’s estimation, Republicans and prospered, but the jobs left, and the factories closed. Democrats align with special interests in a cartel to The establishment protected itself, but not the cit- block legislation that would interest the American izens of our country. Their victories have not been people. In a 2015 speech to the Heritage Foundation, your victories; their triumphs have not been your Cruz said: triumphs; and while they celebrated in our Nation’s

10 “THE HUMBLE MEMBERS OF SOCIETY” JAY COST

Capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling Disagreements are not in good faith among fellow families all across our land.22 republicans who nevertheless have divergent views of the general welfare but rather a consequence of a plot These are old arguments. Bolingbroke was making to undermine, perhaps even destroy, self-government similar points some 300 years ago, distinguishing his in the United States. country party from Walpole’s court party. Again and Still, for its many excesses, the emergence of a pop- again, the complaint is similar: The representative ulist movement can be a sign that something in our process at the heart of republican government has politics is deeply amiss. The 1790s, 1820s, and 1890s been hijacked by some malevolent force, usually the were all times of rampant government corruption, wealthy, and needs to be restored. This is the theoret- and opponents were not wrong to be worried that the ical foundation of populism. republican character of the government was in some jeopardy. Madison certainly overstated his case when he denounced the Hamiltonian Federalists, but he Conclusion was not wrong to worry about “a real domination of the few, under an apparent liberty of the many.” Thus, As we have seen, populism revolves around the populism—for its tendency toward hyperbole, nos- principal-agent problem endemic to representative talgia, and paranoia—should remind us that the sub- government. Populists are worried that their repre- stance of self-government is forever fragile, even as sentatives in government are no longer working for the right to vote is nominally secure. them but instead are now looking out for some other Finally, strong, vibrant political parties can be interest, usually a wealthy one with better access to an institutional alternative to fiery populism. The power. The populist platform can vary on matters of purpose of parties, as Van Buren noted so long ago, policy substance, but it inevitably calls for restoring is to make sure the representatives serve as effec- the old norms that have since been corrupted. This tive agents for their constituents. Today, we have is the main way that populism can be distinguished strong partisanship but institutionally weak parties. from other movements. Strengthening parties in such a way to make them A few additional observations are in order. As we responsive to the concerns of voters could be a way to have seen, populism tends to be a politics of nostalgia. ease public anxiety and prevent another bout of pop- Implicit within the populist argument is that repub- ulist inflammation. lican government was functioning properly at some point but has of late become corrupted. Similarly, those factions most amenable to populist arguments About the Author are those that believe they have lost a quantum of power. This can mean, in turn, that populism appeals Jay Cost is the author of The Price of Greatness: to groups on the downside of socioeconomic shifts— Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and the Cre- the landed gentry of early 18th century England, the ation of American Oligarchy. He is a visiting scholar yeoman farmers of the Great Plains in the 1890s, or at the American Enterprise Institute, a columnist at urban ethnics in the 1960s. Populism, in this way, is a National Review Online, and a contributing opinion backward-looking ideology. Finally, populists tend to writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. infer malevolent motives in their political opponents.

© 2018 by the American Enterprise Institute. All rights reserved. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501(c)(3) educational organization and does not take institutional positions on any issues. The views expressed here are those of the author(s).

11 “THE HUMBLE MEMBERS OF SOCIETY” JAY COST Notes

1. Kenneth A. Shepsle and Mark S. Bonchek, Analyzing Politics: Rationality, Behavior, and Institutions (New York: W. W. Norton, 1997), 362. 2. Shepsle and Bonchek, Analyzing Politics, 367. 3. Founders Online, “The Federalist Number 10, [22 November] 1787,” National Archives, last modified April 12, 2018, http:// founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-10-02-0178. 4. Founders Online, “Vices of the Political System of the United States, April 1787,” National Archives, last modified April 12, 2018, http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-09-02-0187. 5. Henry St. John Viscount Bolingbroke, Political Writings, ed. David Armitage (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 95. 6. Melancton Smith, “21 June 1788,” in The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Debates, ed. Ralph Ketcham (New York: Sig- net, 2003), 342. 7. Federal Farmer [pseud.], “Number XII,” in The Complete Anti-Federalist, ed. Herbert Storing (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981), 1:298. 8. Centinel [pseud.], “Number One,” in The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates, ed. Ralph Ketcham (Signet, 2003), 229–30. 9. Federal Farmer [pseud.], “Number V,” in The Complete Anti-Federalist, ed. Herbert Storing (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981), 1:253. 10. Founders Online, “For the National Gazette 18 February 1792,” National Archives, last modified April 12, 2018, http://founders. archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-14-02-0203. 11. Founders Online, “For the National Gazette, [CA. 10 December] 1791,” National Archives, last modified April 12, 2018, http:// founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-14-02-0145. 12. Andrew Jackson and James Monroe, “James Monroe to Andrew Jackson, December 14, 1816,” in Writings of James Monroe, ed. Stanislaus Murray Hamilton (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1901), 5:346. 13. Martin Van Buren, The Autobiography of Martin Van Buren, ed. John C. Fitzpatrick (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1920), 125. 14. Andrew Jackson, “First Annual Message, December 8, 1829,” American Presidency Project, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ ws/?pid=29471. 15. Andrew Jackson, “Veto Message [of the Re-authorization of Bank of the United States], July 10, 1832,” American Presidency Proj- ect, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=67043. 16. Minor/Third Party Platforms, “Populist Party Platform of 1892, July 4, 1892,” American Presidency Project, http://www. presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29616. 17. Minor/Third Party Platforms, “Progressive Party Platform of 1912, November 5, 1912,” American Presidency Project, http://www. presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29617. 18. Theodore White, The Making of the President 1968 (New York: Harper Perennial, 2010), 78. 19. Minor/Third Party Platforms, “American Independent Party Platform of 1968, October 13, 1968,” American Presidency Project, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29570. 20. Ted Cruz, “It’s Time to Break the Washington Cartel,” news release, June 24, 2015, https://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=press_ release&id=2363. 21. Donald Trump, “RNC Draft Speech,” Politico, July 21, 2016, https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/full-transcript-donald-trump- nomination-acceptance-speech-at-rnc-225974. 22. Donald Trump, “Inaugural Address, January 20, 2017,” American Presidency Project, accessed March 10, 2018, http://www. presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=120000.