Isa Cruz

On Wednesday, Seth Jaffe ’00, associate professor of the history of political thought at Luiss Guido Carli University in Rome, made his case in Lancaster Lounge for a new definition of populism. His definition requires more collaboration between political theorists and political scientists.

According to Jaffe, while populism has various definitions, the term can be broken up into a liberal, democratic and national appeal.

Under Jaffe’s model, the liberal appeal calls attention to the protection of rights. The democratic appeal emphasizes representation of voices. The national appeal helps define what delimits one people from another. These appeals can support or contradict one another. For instance, liberal elements of the government, such as appointed judges or the Electoral College, can impede the direct democratic will of the people.

“A populist might well claim that the government is failing its democratic purpose because there are antidemocratic obstacles to democracy, including constitutional liberal impediments,” Jaffe said. “Take the U.S. Electoral College by way of example. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but lost the presidential election…. This is entirely constitutional, but many of us would prefer that an American president win not only the Electoral College but also the popular vote. It would satisfy a democratic impulse.”

Jaffe also raised the concern that because populism arises from a lack of institutional legitimacy, the political system may be perceived as broken, even if it is not.

“The rising legitimacy of the populist politician or movement is directly connected to the declining legitimacy of the corrupt or broken system,” Jaffe said. “Once these kinds of arguments have been set into motion, once they define a politician or movement, this kind of claim generates further political incentives to attack the legitimacy of the existing system.”

Finally, Jaffe described the importance of promoting a model of liberal democratic health which incorporates his definition of populism.

“It is the failure, or perceived failure, of a political order to satisfy the imperatives … of these principles [liberal, democratic and national] which affords populist politicians the ability to speak for the people and which give populist arguments their urgency and their energy,” Jaffe said. “This is so because their claims touch or point to the very foundations of liberal democratic legitimacy.”

Jaffe earned his BA in philosophy and government and legal studies from the College in 2000. He later received his master’s and PhD. He wrote a book called “Thucydides on the Outbreak of War: Character and Contest” in 2017 and is currently doing research for a new work on Greek historian Polybius.

Jaffe was invited to speak at the College through the support of the John C. Donavan Lecture Fund, and the talk was organized by political philosophy and contemporary political theory professor Paul Franco. According to Franco, Jaffe will also visit a Thucydides class and talk to some of the political theory students in the department about graduate study. Franco says the discussion of populism is critical to understanding our current political climate.

“Some insight about this phenomenon that is currently at the forefront of a lot of current debate, not just in the United States, but around the world [is important],” Franco said. “A number of leaders have based their claims on a kind of [populist] platform … [demanding] greater insight into what populism is and the challenges that it poses to liberal democracy.”

Zain Blair-Roberts ’28 attended the talk as recommended through Professor Robert Sobak’s Thucydides class.

“I thought it would be interesting to have another perspective beyond the readings … and beyond Professor Sobak’s perspective, also to hear from an alumnus,” Blair-Roberts said. “I really enjoyed the distinction of the balancing act of considering populism.”

Attendee Bree Candland ’01 was a government and legal studies major and a friend of Jaffe’s while at the College. She now teaches at Morse High School in Bath and said the talk underscored the importance of educating young people to think critically about how their government operates.

“One thing that is sticking out to me that he is talking about is the importance of civic education,” Candland said. “I have been teaching social studies in a public school—this is my 24th year teaching—and it’s interesting. We were just talking about the importance of, ‘We don’t want kids to learn about civics because we want people in power to stay in power.’”

Following the talk, a number of audience members, including students, challenged Jaffe on his argument. Candland described how she appreciated the respectful dialogue of the discourse.

“What I really appreciate about having a conversation about this is how people in the room can all agree to disagree, and it’s really important to have those conversations and nuance and still be able to walk away as friends,” Candland said.