The Populist Persuasion Essays - Populism, Political Terminology

The Populist Persuasion : The Populist Persuasion Populism is a movement begun in the mid-1890s by farmers and other rural residents at the time. It quickly gained strength and has undergone many changes since then. It has not only changed in its views, but also in the political parties who utilize it not as an ideology but rather as a mode of persuasion. Populism is defined in the book as a language whose speakers see the American people as one and not as a people bound by class restrictions, who see the elite politicians who oppose them as self-serving, and who wish to bring these average Americans together to fight against the overbearing powers of the political elite. Populist speakers in the United States voiced their discontent with elites who ignored, corrupted, or betrayed the ideal of American democracy, which consisted of rule by the common people. After the farmers created what we know as populism in the mid-1890s, there was a parting of the ways. In the early twentieth century, farmers' enthusiasm waned but two other groups' did not. These groups consisted of the wage earners and the evangelic churchgoers. They argued that unions were now the best representation of the average man. At the same time, middle-class Protestants were mounting campaigns as well.. This was the first transition of the populist movement. . The second transition came in the late 1940s when populism began a migration from Left to Right. Conservative groups and politicians altered the speeches once given by reformers and radicals. Many reasons are given in the book as to why this transition took place. Some of these included: the onset of the Cold War, the fact that most white Americans came to see themselves as middle-class consumers and taxpayers, and the growth of evangelical churches whose political stance was as conservative as their theology. Gradually and unevenly, a conservative populism emerged that promised to defend devout, middle-class communities against the governing elite. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, many experimented with this new shift in group. However, conservatives did not fully understand populism's potential for persuasion during elections until the 1960s. Mainly, this indoctrination came from George Wallace. Wallace rallied up the south's people; his people. His people had unglamorous jobs and a culture that treasured close families and a steady faith in God and country. They were fed up and were going to turn this country around. He managed to look and sound more like an ordinary, working American than did anyone of distinction on the white Left. Unfortunately for Wallace, though, his style made him seem part of the crisis rather than essential to solving it. He was too authentically populist, too blunt and imprudent an outlet for the anger of his followers to attract other voters who simply wanted the nation's troubles to end. Nevertheless, beginning in the late 1960s, conservative activists and politicians - mostly Republican - re-created themselves as the true representatives of average white Americans. They learned to breed the same mass resentments that George Wallace had spoken of but had been unable to ride to victory. In order to achieve what Wallace had failed in doing, a softening of his definition of the people was required. Instead of suggesting a takeover by angry steelworkers and street cops, conservatives announced their understanding of the concerns of the silent majority of producers and consumers - taxpayers, white nationals, housewives, middle Americans who felt betrayed by the New Left. By the end of the 1960s there was a shared dislike, among most, of the governing and cultural elite and its supposed friends in the ghettos and on campus. By the late 1980s it was clear that the American conservatives had not succeeded in establishing a new political order. The populist politician no longer had the face of a conservative nor the face of a liberal. Populism had jumped from the hands of the Left to the hands of the Right through time and continues today as a movement striving to survive in a society in which populism has even been used by advertisers as a fad. Populism is, in my opinion, a necessary component of democracy today. However, I believe that put to use in the appropriate manner is the only way in which it