Post by pieter on Apr 8, 2019 15:09:31 GMT -7
Populism in Europe
European Populism Populism champions the common person, usually by favourable contrast with an elite. Populism usually combines elements of the left and the right, opposing large business and financial interests but also frequently being hostile to established socialist and labour parties. At the core of European Populism doesn't lie Fascism or Nazism, but various 19th century European cultural nationalisms in my opinion. At the core of that rightwing National Populist belief lies the idea that each nation in Europe had from its earliest formation developed a culture of its own, with features as unique as its language, even though its language and culture might have near relatives over the frontier.
In each nation it is the people as a whole, not just the educated class, that is deemed the creator and repository of culture; and that culture is not a conscious product fashioned by the court artists of the moment: it is the slow growth of centuries. Today the idea of an illiberal democracy in the sense of a direct democracy with referendums is popular amongst some North-West-European Populists from the Netherlands. The populist demand for direct democracy through popular initiatives and referenda also become a reality in the Netherlands and a number of U.S. states.
In its contemporary understanding, however, populism is most often associated with an authoritarian form of politics. Populist politics, following this definition, revolves around a charismatic leader who appeals to and claims to embody the will of the people in order to consolidate his own power. In this personalized form of politics, political parties lose their importance, and elections serve to confirm the leader’s authority rather than to reflect the different allegiances of the people.
A very good and direct example of that is Geert Wilders and his Freedom Party, the PVV. In order to register for elections in the Netherlands, a political party needs to be an association (Dutch: vereniging), which can be founded by two or more members. The Vereniging Groep Wilders (Association Group Wilders) was founded by the natural person Geert Wilders and Stichting Groep Wilders (Foundation Group Wilders), of which Wilders is the only board member. The association was later renamed to Partij voor de Vrijheid (Party for Freedom). After the creation of the association, Wilders disabled new member registration, resulting in his remaining the sole member of the party. The party does not organise public party conferences and does not have local departments, a youth wing, or a research institute. So, Geert Wilders is the only member of the Freedom Party (PVV) and he has the absolute control, a dominant, and leading role in his movement, the PVV. The PVV is not a democratic party with a internal party democracy with members and chairman/chairwoman elections.
The continuing rise of populism, is something to measure decade by decade, not year by year.
Dutch rightwing national populists like Thierry Baudet of Forum for Democracy and Geert Wilders of the Freedom Party have a Populist political approach that deliberately appeal to "the people", juxtaposing this group against the "elite" of the Dutch government, prime minister Mark Rutte and his cabinet, the government parties, the centre left and centre right opposition parties, the people of the Dutch press and media, the Dutch tv and radio and the academical elite of the Dutch universities. Thierry Baudet and Geert Wilders see these people as the liberal political elite and leftwingers who control certain sectors of the Dutch society like education, public opinion, institutions and the democratic system of rule (the party cartel in the eyes of Thierry Baudet).
Thierry Baudet and Geert Wilders in the Dutch Second Chamber, the Dutch parliament
Populism in Europe often has rightwing populist and leftwing populist elements in one movement. For instance Geert Wilders Freedom Party (PVV) is rather leftwing Populist on social issues, in which it has an oldfashionate leftwing social democratic stance on social security, health care and income policies, where the Freedom Party (PVV) is rightwing populist and nationalist on social-cultural, migration, refugees, European Union and Islam (Islamization) matters.
The same you can see within the Polish Law and Justice (Polish: Prawo i Sprawiedliwość) government party, the French National Rally (French: Rassemblement national) of Marine Le Pen and the Italian government coalition of Rightwing Populist Lega Nord and the Leftwing Populist Five Star Movement parties.
Cheers,
Pieter
Sources: Wikipedia, Encyclopedia Britannica, Pieters own knowledge about Populism in the Netherlands and google search for images.
European Populism Populism champions the common person, usually by favourable contrast with an elite. Populism usually combines elements of the left and the right, opposing large business and financial interests but also frequently being hostile to established socialist and labour parties. At the core of European Populism doesn't lie Fascism or Nazism, but various 19th century European cultural nationalisms in my opinion. At the core of that rightwing National Populist belief lies the idea that each nation in Europe had from its earliest formation developed a culture of its own, with features as unique as its language, even though its language and culture might have near relatives over the frontier.
In each nation it is the people as a whole, not just the educated class, that is deemed the creator and repository of culture; and that culture is not a conscious product fashioned by the court artists of the moment: it is the slow growth of centuries. Today the idea of an illiberal democracy in the sense of a direct democracy with referendums is popular amongst some North-West-European Populists from the Netherlands. The populist demand for direct democracy through popular initiatives and referenda also become a reality in the Netherlands and a number of U.S. states.
In its contemporary understanding, however, populism is most often associated with an authoritarian form of politics. Populist politics, following this definition, revolves around a charismatic leader who appeals to and claims to embody the will of the people in order to consolidate his own power. In this personalized form of politics, political parties lose their importance, and elections serve to confirm the leader’s authority rather than to reflect the different allegiances of the people.
A very good and direct example of that is Geert Wilders and his Freedom Party, the PVV. In order to register for elections in the Netherlands, a political party needs to be an association (Dutch: vereniging), which can be founded by two or more members. The Vereniging Groep Wilders (Association Group Wilders) was founded by the natural person Geert Wilders and Stichting Groep Wilders (Foundation Group Wilders), of which Wilders is the only board member. The association was later renamed to Partij voor de Vrijheid (Party for Freedom). After the creation of the association, Wilders disabled new member registration, resulting in his remaining the sole member of the party. The party does not organise public party conferences and does not have local departments, a youth wing, or a research institute. So, Geert Wilders is the only member of the Freedom Party (PVV) and he has the absolute control, a dominant, and leading role in his movement, the PVV. The PVV is not a democratic party with a internal party democracy with members and chairman/chairwoman elections.
The continuing rise of populism, is something to measure decade by decade, not year by year.
Dutch rightwing national populists like Thierry Baudet of Forum for Democracy and Geert Wilders of the Freedom Party have a Populist political approach that deliberately appeal to "the people", juxtaposing this group against the "elite" of the Dutch government, prime minister Mark Rutte and his cabinet, the government parties, the centre left and centre right opposition parties, the people of the Dutch press and media, the Dutch tv and radio and the academical elite of the Dutch universities. Thierry Baudet and Geert Wilders see these people as the liberal political elite and leftwingers who control certain sectors of the Dutch society like education, public opinion, institutions and the democratic system of rule (the party cartel in the eyes of Thierry Baudet).
Thierry Baudet and Geert Wilders in the Dutch Second Chamber, the Dutch parliament
Populism in Europe often has rightwing populist and leftwing populist elements in one movement. For instance Geert Wilders Freedom Party (PVV) is rather leftwing Populist on social issues, in which it has an oldfashionate leftwing social democratic stance on social security, health care and income policies, where the Freedom Party (PVV) is rightwing populist and nationalist on social-cultural, migration, refugees, European Union and Islam (Islamization) matters.
The same you can see within the Polish Law and Justice (Polish: Prawo i Sprawiedliwość) government party, the French National Rally (French: Rassemblement national) of Marine Le Pen and the Italian government coalition of Rightwing Populist Lega Nord and the Leftwing Populist Five Star Movement parties.
Cheers,
Pieter
Sources: Wikipedia, Encyclopedia Britannica, Pieters own knowledge about Populism in the Netherlands and google search for images.
