Trust the People! Populism and the Two Faces of Democracy
Citation:
Canovan, M. (1999). “Trust the People! Populism and the Two Faces of Democracy”. In
Political Studies, 47 (1), 2-16. London: Wiley-Blackwell-Political Studies Association. Retrieved October 11, 2021 from https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9248.00184
Work data:
Type of work: Article (academic)
Categories:
Politics and Political ScienceTags:
populismAbstract:
Populism, understood as an appeal to `the people' against both the established structure of power and the dominant ideas and values, should not be dismissed as a pathological form of politics of no interest to the political theorist, for its democratic pretensions raise important issues. Adapting Michael Oakeshott's distinction between `the politics of faith' and `the politics of scepticism', the paper offers an analysis of democracy in terms of two opposing faces, one `pragmatic' and the other `redemptive', and argues that it is the inescapable tension between them that makes populism a perennial possibility.
