This is an interesting piece – I think you’ll like it

Published: August 11, 2014 at 9:53pm

Jan-Werner Müller’s piece for Social Europe Journal: Erdoğan And The Paradox Of Populism – link below. Meanwhile, I quote this pertinent paragraphs:

But things are not that simple. Populists typically adopt a governing style that mirrors the very accusations that they leveled against the previous political establishment.

They grab whatever power they can, disable checks and balances, fill all state offices with cronies, and reward their supporters (and only their supporters) with benefits in exchange for their loyalty – what political scientists call “mass clientelism.” Austrian arch-populist Jörg Haider, for example, would literally hand out €100 ($134) bills to “his people” on the street.

Of course, all parties seek to take care of their constituencies first. What is peculiar about populist politicians is that they can do so openly and with a clean conscience. After all, if only their supporters are really “the people,” everyone else is undeserving.

Social Europe 1

Social Europe 2




14 Comments Comment

  1. Nutter says:

    Don’t think you could have done better yourself.

  2. Last Post says:

    Good article. Thanks for the link.

    I wonder how ‘switchers’ and ‘floaters’ would react to it.

  3. Wilson says:

    I am waiting to see whether that gas line between Israel and Turkey will happen after all that dissing he gave about Israel. Then we will know whether money talks at all in Turkey.

  4. ciccio says:

    Definitely a good read – thank you for sharing.

    Ah, well, it seems that Turkey has Erdogan, and Malta has Underdogan. They are both populists.

  5. Freedom5 says:

    With some people it takes a little bit more than a hundred euros , but it still works . QED Bondi plus

  6. Rumplestiltskin says:

    Describes precisely what’s happening here.

  7. LINA CARUANA says:

    I feel that such politicians read people’s inclinations well mainly on economic equality.Societies and their value systems were transformed in a complex process of change .Surely the people ought to be more powerful but they were not astute in their choices .They exchange their treasures for peanuts.

  8. John Higgins says:

    Has he heard of what’s happening in Malta under the present government?

  9. pacikk says:

    Good article – sounds so familiar, and just after the first year. Would this guy happen to know what the future holds four yeras down the line? I only shudder to think.

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