What is Populism

Do you think that when people voted Trump the demagogue into power, they expected to get the whole family as well, considering they were supposedly voting against dynastic rule

No. I can understand Ivanka being there instead of Melanie for the time being though.

What about Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner?

I suppose this comment ought to be on the Trump thread but following on from above. I do find the family thing weird. It's like voting for May and getting her children (if she had any) for foreign minister etc quite bizarre.

The people Trump has surrounded himself with will all support this demigod's notions, tempered to make them more digestible at first.
The only ray of hope is that he will need 51 votes in Congress to pass every notion and there are 2 remaining Republican senators who cannot be bought or bullied(yet) so, despite the 52-strong Republican presence, the Donald may just meet an obstacle or 2.

Admire Meryl Streep even more after Globes!
Saw free preview of La La Land Sunday. Fun, uplifting, compassionate, happy & sad. All about having dreams, good intentions and sticking to them despite a cruel, rough, tough world. A story of our times, with catchy music.

Rinouchka, have you got the wrong spelling and perhaps meaning of demagogue too?

I dont know what Jared Kushner is doing there.

Do the americans have form for doing it this way? No idea. They dont seem to be complaining much because they are used to it?

Isn't Rinoushka just being ironic in her use of 'demigod'?

Yes. Irony!
Jared Kushner has yet to be approved by Congress( please see my other comment). DT only feels comfortable surrounded by his offspring and allied others. This is the way of insecure people and past demigogues( and demigods) in history and mythology. Full gods are more certain of themselves!

Americans are complaining, Ankers. Kushner has a team of attorneys on standby to defend him against a federal anti-nepotism law.

Populism in action. What has nepotism got to do with the common people? Why isn't he trying to get the best team, in order to make the changes he has promised? He is acting like dictators throughout the world,Remember Houssain? (Is that spelt correctly)

That's because he's a demagogue.

...who seems to think he's a demi-god.

Exactly!

www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/15/french-progressives-dare-to-hope-as-maverick-macron-surges-in-polls

Fingers crossed. Hopefully the French have seen the light on populism.

The most obvious precedent for Trump nepotism is JFK:

Robert Kennedy was previously the 64th U.S. Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, serving under his older brother, President John F. Kennedy and his successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Ted Kennedy entered the Senate in a 1962 special election to fill the seat once held by his brother John after he became POTUS.

But also Clinton was elected in 2000 as senator for New York while Bill was still in office, not quite the same I know.

Michelle Obama took a role as Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago , a highly paid sinecure she would surely not have been given as a former IP lawyer with only a few years experience, were she not the Senators wife!

We certainly have dynastic selections for parliamentary seats in this country too.

Of course nepotism and populism should not be muddled.

Eh yes whitewave! I was wondering why there had been a unilateral change in topic too! Nepotism is only one factor of Trump's awfulness and the one where there is a clear reason for thinking that he's breaking federal law. None of the above filled important offices of state with unelected relatives.

There's a good radio 4 programme at the moment talking about America and Trump and trying to make sense of it all. Studied and calm.

When was Jared Kushner elected?

"Trump said he would appoint his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to try to broker a Middle East peace deal, urged Britain to veto any new U.N. Security Council resolution critical of Israel and criticized Obama’s handling of the deal between Iran and six world powers including the United States which curbed Tehran's nuclear program."

This is nepotism. Nothing like populism, is it?

The topic changed and included Dynastic/Nepotism as a matter of course, it was a fair 'discussion' point so can I ask what the problem is?

Durhamjen asked.

'Do you think that when people voted Trump the demagogue into power, they expected to get the whole family as well, considering they were supposedly voting against dynastic rule?"

You asked about 'Jared Kushner' daphnedil so why do wonder why, as you say now, there has been a 'unilateral change in topic'.

I don't follow.

By the way plenty of Nepotism alive and kicking in ALL countries and that includes the UK politics too.

POGS, do you think when people voted Trump the demagogue into power, they expected to get the whole family as well, considering they were supposedly voting against dynastic rule?

Yes pogs you are right. But it doesn't harm to remind people that populism can do so much more harm. Look at the Holocaust page.

durhamjen Re your link. I think Emmanuel Macron's supporters might do well to look at the fact that he was a chief adviser and then economy minister to Francois Hollonde. French unemployment is running at 10% Not a good track record, is it.

I noted earlier it was generally considered that Jeremy Corbyn was not populist, have I made the right conclusion?

What do posters think about the words 'populist/populism being attached to Corbyn?

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/25/jeremy-corbyn-populist-democracy-mps

labourlist.org/2017/01/from-nowhere-to-everywhere-corbyn-opts-for-populism-but-isnt-tempted-by-trump/

www.reddit.com/r/LabourUK/comments/4ui12b/jeremy_corbyn_is_a_great_populist_but_thats_no/

I remain of the same opinion as I started with . There is an element of populism in both left and right of politics.

The difference is some see populist/populism if it is 'on their side of politics' as a good thing. If it is on the 'opposite side of their politics' it is the devil incarnate.

Going back to a statement in the OP

'Populism therefore can be described as xenophobic authoritarianism.'

I can't agree because the words populist/populism apply to a wider audience than those some deem to fall into the category such as Marine Le Pen. If Corbyn is seen as Populist or Nicola Sturgeon are they too xenophobic authoritarians?