Americans don't trust experts or populists. What's left?

An expert.
(Image credit: Illustrated | iStock)

Just two years ago, populists were riding high. In the U.S., U.K., several European countries, and parts of Asia, leaders and parties who appealed to ordinary people against an allegedly or actually corrupt elite were securely in office or making electoral gains. Some scholars even predicted the emergence of a global populist movement that might provide a coordinated alternative to the so-called liberal international order.

Then came COVID. At their strongest on issues that combine economic interests with cultural identity, particularly trade and immigration, populists faced unexpected challenges in the pandemic. Denunciations of the medical establishment, defiant personal conduct, and sometimes bizarre conspiracy theories played well with base supporters. But they frightened and alienated much of the broader public.

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Samuel Goldman

Samuel Goldman is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also an associate professor of political science at George Washington University, where he is executive director of the John L. Loeb, Jr. Institute for Religious Freedom and director of the Politics & Values Program. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard and was a postdoctoral fellow in Religion, Ethics, & Politics at Princeton University. His books include God's Country: Christian Zionism in America (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018) and After Nationalism (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021). In addition to academic research, Goldman's writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications.