Lessons from Brexit and Trump: populism is what happens when political parties lose control

Excerpt

The shock of Brexit and Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential elections have dramatically increased interest in populism. Much attention has been devoted to the motives and identities of those who voted for Brexit and Trump. Stories of alienation and neglect of the “losers of globalization” abound. This contribution to the anniversary issue of the German Journal of Comparative Politics takes a different approach and starts by asking why voters had a chance to opt for Brexit and Trump in the first place. Why did the British prime-minister decide to hold a referendum on membership of the European Union (EU)? How did Trump become the Republican party’s presidential nominee? Moreover, why did the British Labour party not campaign more actively for remain? The answer to all three questions is the same: because party organizations lost control over the choice of their leaders and leaders lost control over the formulation of major policies. This analysis thus highlights the intimate connection between two of the main challenges facing Western democracies: the rise of populism and the decline of political parties. The crisis of the Republicans in the US and of the two main parties in the UK is also a crisis of party democracy. If weak parties are part of the problem, stronger parties may be part of the answer to populism. …