The article examines the puzzling dominance of right-wing populism over left-wing movements in the U.S. and Europe. American progressives have attempted to rally support around economic inequality, yet efforts like Bernie Sanders’ and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Fighting Oligarchy” tour have had minimal electoral success. The author argues that modern populism primarily targets “cognitive elites” rather than “economic elites,” suggesting that voters resonate more with concrete issues than abstract concepts.
A key example is New York Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani, who shifted from being a low-polling candidate to winning more than 50% of the vote by promising tangible benefits like cheaper groceries. This contrasts with the abstract critiques of inequality and oligarchy often employed by left-leaning politicians. Instead, effective populism relies on addressing specific everyday concerns, as seen in Mamdani’s focus on grocery prices rather than abstract supply chains.
The article also critiques how left-wing populists, like Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, struggle to connect with the public’s framing of economic issues, leading to their messages being lost in complexity. It highlights historical examples, such as Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, to argue that successful populism often fails when it neglects the more nuanced realities of economic policies.
Ultimately, left populists face the challenge of balancing their specific campaign promises with the need to implement more complex, technocratic policies after achieving electoral success.
