Yascha Mounk Substack

How political scientists misunderstood Trump and missed his appeal.

Trump did this by doing what academics are supposed to be expert in: recognizing that the popular understanding of some concept—in this case, populism—is actually constituted by two elements which are logically separable. In his more recent incarnation, Trump has held on to his disdain for longstanding norms and his populist belief in the unfettered prerogative of the majority. But he has also made more explicit than in the past that his political vision is open to supporters from every ethnic and religious group—and has been very shrewd in courting them with an aspirational vision of America.

Though the term is much-overused and often misapplied, the concept of populism remains the most accurate frame for understanding his actions: He believes that, as the rightful voice of the people, he should not suffer any artificial restrictions on his actions—whether by unwritten norms or by explicit limits on the powers of a president.

For the most part, the executive orders Trump announced in his Second Inaugural are tailor-made to support this vision. His promise to restore order to American cities will resonate among the poorer and more diverse segments of his electorate who are the prime victims of urban crime. His promise to restore free speech is broadly popular among voters without fancy degrees who feel that elites are using their arbitrary moral codes and linguistic conventions as cudgels to wield against them at will. Even his promise to “drill, baby, drill” is broadly popular among voters who are more focused on realizing their American Dream in the next few years than on containing the threat to the climate over the coming decades