Programmatic Populism vs. Vibes Populism

Does populist politics require populist policy?

There’s a tension I struggled with in writing Party of the People, and one I’ve continued to grapple with since its release: how to square the political success of populism with the fact that, at least until Donald Trump’s second term, we haven’t seen a truly populist, worker-focused Republican economic agenda. Are nationalist policies like tariffs what Trump’s working class coalition are truly asking for? Do they matter at all in terms of electoral success or public opinion?

What we have is a disconnect between Programmatic Populism and Vibes Populism.

Vibes Populism is populism as it’s expressed by voters: the system is rigged, the politicians are corrupt, and the elites have sold out the country. What we need is a wrecking ball like Trump to demolish the status quo.

This kind of populism gives voice to voter anger. You hear it clearly when you go out in the real world. But when it comes to policy, its demands tend to be vague and emotionally driven: just fix what the elites broke. It…