The populist faction in the conservative movement today is best characterized by an openness to relational power (something that the left understands very well). They are willing to indiscriminately use power when they attain it. Rather than sacrifice American values in the name of ‘playing fair’—something that the left only abides by in rhetoric when they hold little power—conservatives now recognize party principles, such as “limited government,” to be incompatible with the preservation of their values when the former is treated as a puritan creed of no compromise.
A Critique of Conservative Populists
A Critique of Conservative Populists
A Critique of Conservative Populists
The populist faction in the conservative movement today is best characterized by an openness to relational power (something that the left understands very well). They are willing to indiscriminately use power when they attain it. Rather than sacrifice American values in the name of ‘playing fair’—something that the left only abides by in rhetoric when they hold little power—conservatives now recognize party principles, such as “limited government,” to be incompatible with the preservation of their values when the former is treated as a puritan creed of no compromise.