WERE THE AMERICAN POPULISTS POPULIST? ON THE LIMITS OF THE LIBERAL CRITIQUE OF POPULISM

Abstract

Jan-Werner Müller’s claim that it is possible to exclude from the category of populism the American Populists even if they explicitly called themselves populists indicates not only a methodological problem but also, more importantly, a conceptual one. Müller accepts the definition of populism constructed by the Cold War liberals as the counter-concept against their democracy model but excludes the constitutive or archetypical case that constitutes the category. This is because the American Populists were not anti-democratic, reactionary, racist, or proto-fascist as the proponents of pluralist-procedural democracy who embraced the frame drawn by Richard Hofstadter’s interpretation of the history of American Populists in the 1950s claim, but on the contrary, theirs was a democratic pluralist, progressive, and inclusionary movement. With this in mind, the Populists do not fit into the concept of populism as defined pejoratively by Müller and the liberals. In this situation, there appear to be two choices: the concept of populism will be abandoned or will be redefined as the political logic for democratizing democracy or transition to democracy. While defending the second choice, this article aims at displaying the limits of the liberal critique of populism by criticizing Müller’s critique of populism.

Keywords

• Populism
• American Populists
• Jan-Werner Müller
• liberal democracy
• procedural democracy

Amerikan Popülistleri Popülist Miydi? Liberal Popülizm Eleştirisinin Sınırları Üzerine

Abstract

Jan-Werner Müller’in kendilerini açıkça popülist olarak tanımlamış olsalar bile Amerikan Popülistlerinin popülist olmadıklarını iddia etmesi sadece metodolojik değil, daha önemlisi, kavramsal bir soruna işaret etmektedir. Müller, Soğuk Savaş liberalizminin ürettiği demokrasi modelinin asimetrik karşı kavramı olarak inşa ettiği popülizm kavramını olduğu gibi kabul etmekte ancak bu kavramı mümkün kılan kurucu ya da arketipik örneği dışlamaktadır. Bunun nedeni, Amerikan Popülistlerinin, 1950’lerde Richard Hofstadter’in Amerikan Popülistleri tarihi yorumunu benimseyen, çoğulcu-prosedürel ya da elitist demokrasi modelini savunanların iddia ettiği gibi anti-demokratik, ilerleme karşıtı, ırkçı, proto-faşist değil, demokratik, çoğulcu, ilerlemeci, kapsayıcı olmasıdır. Böyle olunca, Popülistler Müller ve diğer liberal eleştirilerin negatif, pejoratif bir popülizm tanımına uymamaktadır. Bu durumda iki seçenek vardır: ya popülizm kavramı terk edilmelidir ya da analitik bir değeri olduğu ölçüde otoriterleşmeden çıkış ve demokratikleşmenin ya da demokrasiyi demokratikleştirmenin politik mantığı olarak yeniden tanımlanmalıdır. Bu makale, ikinci seçeneğin değerlendirilmesi gerektiğini savunurken, Müller’in popülizm eleştirisini eleştirerek, genel olarak liberal popülizm eleştirisinin sınırlarını göstermeyi amaçlamaktadır.

Keywords

• Popülizm
• Amerikan Popülistleri
• Jan-Werner Müller
• liberal demokrasi
• prosedürel demokrasi

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