How Does Business Fare Under Populism?
Security Theme
State Stability and Infrastructure
Keywords
Economic Stability, Latin America, Caribbean, Economics, Politics, Populism, Diplomacy
Description
Most Americans have become used to a division of the world into left versus right. But in recent years, voters across the globe have elected more populists—who break the typical ideological mold—than ever before. Leaders who run on a populist strategy position themselves within the left-right spectrum, but they gain power by polarizing society. Their governing style tends to centralize and personalize power in themselves and sideline institutional checks and balances. Meanwhile, their actual policies scramble ideological categories. By 2018, leaders using a populist strategy presided over nearly a third of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP). Populism has receded slightly since then, but countries that elect populists once tend to elect them again. So, it is worth asking: how do economies and businesses fare under leaders who are supposedly pro-business but use populism to gain and maintain power? This paper is organized as follows.
How Does Business Fare Under Populism?
Most Americans have become used to a division of the world into left versus right. But in recent years, voters across the globe have elected more populists—who break the typical ideological mold—than ever before. Leaders who run on a populist strategy position themselves within the left-right spectrum, but they gain power by polarizing society. Their governing style tends to centralize and personalize power in themselves and sideline institutional checks and balances. Meanwhile, their actual policies scramble ideological categories. By 2018, leaders using a populist strategy presided over nearly a third of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP). Populism has receded slightly since then, but countries that elect populists once tend to elect them again. So, it is worth asking: how do economies and businesses fare under leaders who are supposedly pro-business but use populism to gain and maintain power? This paper is organized as follows.