Populism is quickly gaining track with modern politics. At the very basic, populism can be described as the tendency to advocate for political policies that delineate the public against the established political entities. It creates the furor about "us the normal folks" against "them who subjugate and control us (Schuster 2017)." Populist politics fail to have clear-cut objectives because they often do not reflect actionable realities. In contrast, it demands that the general will of the masses should prevail. It is mainly grounded in identity and whipping up the public emotion whose purpose is to create a distinction between a foe and an enemy. The populist views the intellectuals and their opinion with many suspicions because of perceived close relationship with the political elites (Schuster 2017). Consequently, traditional institutions such as the defense of media pluralism, the neutrality of state institutions and the separation of powers, which are the hallmarks of democracy, are regarded as unnecessary.
Populism: A Case Study of the UK Independence Party (UKIP)
The UKIP is a British political party founded in 1993 by members of the Anti-Federalist League under the leadership of Dr. Alan Sked. It was an idea originating from the opposition of the members to the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, which established the integration of European countries that gave birth to the European Union. Since then, the political agenda of the party has been to take the British Nation out of the Union (Hunt 2014). More recently, the party has embarked on a campaign that advocated for a whole range of new issues that have divided the British public. The party has courted controversy by propagating populist ideas on banning immigration into the United Kingdom, terrorism and the economy.
Global Migration
The political conflict that engulfed Arab countries in Northern Africa and the Middle East caused massive movement of people. The political conflict that spread across the Arab world since 2009 saw many countries disintegrate into armed warfare (Mastropaolo 2017). A large number of persons were trapped in the fight while others fled in search of safe havens. The civil wars in Libya, Tunisia, Syria, and Yemen among others triggered mass-movement of persons from their countries to Europe in search of safety and a means of livelihood (Witte 2017). The international community urged the European countries to open their borders to the immigrants on a humanitarian basis. While some countries such as Germany welcomed the immigrants, some such as Britain were split between a public that was worried about the influx of the immigrants (Mastropaolo 2017). The fears were mainly based on the fear that the arrival of too many people would exert too much pressure on the existing social infrastructure in the country, which would upset the existing social fabric and disadvantage the local population.
The ruling “elite” was cornered between supporting the European policies that promoted open-door policies for migrants and a public that had been whipped up to resist. The UKIP became instrumental in creating a division between the political elites and the public that vigorously campaigned against accepting immigration of refugees and seekers of political asylum (Witte 2017). Led by Nigel Farage, the party seized the opportunity by actively campaigning for the exit of the UK from the European Union claiming that continued membership in the Union was hurting the welfare of the British people. Notably, there was no concrete evidence to support the notion that exiting the EU would have any positive ramifications for the overall public welfare.
Terrorism
Global terrorism has been instrumental in the advancement of the UKIP party. Specifically, the rise of the so-called Islamic State (IS) and their brutal killing of the British nationals spread fear and hatred of the group. It was not lost in the mind of the public that the terrorist group drew most its support base from the Arabic countries whose nationals were on the run in search of safety (Witte 2017). With Britain as a possible destination owing to its membership in the European Union, the UKIP made every effort to convince the country that the European Union had effectively taken away their right to self-defense through policies that put the union ahead of the safety of its nationals.
The spate of fatal knife stabbings in 2013 were blamed on IS further reinforcing the populist ideas of the UKIP party. The party successfully mobilized its membership by tapping on the public sentiments which derided the possible spread of terrorism into the British society if the policies of the European Union were not reversed (Hunt 2014). It based its rhetoric on the idea that all security issue affecting the UK would be outdated if the country voted to leave the alliance. The idea that the security challenges bedeviling the UK were chiefly caused by the European Union was not only lacking in material facts, but also based on populism because of terrorism (Hunt 2014). The populist propaganda failed to recognize that terrorism affected many countries, which had no membership to the EU including the United States and Russia.
Economic Recession
The economic slowdown in Europe has had its impact on the spread of populist ideas in the UK. The UKIP has made it clear that the economic recession in the UK stems from its association with malfunctioning economies in the region particularly Greece, Spain, and Portugal (Hunt 2014). These countries have experienced sustained economic slump whose impact is far-reaching. The UKIP has propagated the populist notion that the slump is a result of the corrupt elite in London who are interested in ripping the national coffers for their good (Witte 2017). In contrast, it positions itself as the defender of "pure" people that have been alienated for a long time by the political establishment.
According to its website, the UKIP regards the EU as being the symptom of a much larger problem in the country. The theft of democratic space by the powerful and remote "elite" is responsible for much of the economic gloom in the UK. This assertion, while appealing to the emotions of the public, is not supported by any facts (Witte 2017). In contrast, it is the trade relations with other countries including Greece and Spain, which contributed positively to the regional rise of the UK as an economic powerhouse. This was only made possible by the able leadership of the elite who are derided by the populist ideologies propagated by the UKIP.
The Rise and Fall of the UKIP
The apex of UKIP success came to the fore on the 23rd June 2016. The British nations headed for elections to decide whether or not to leave the European Union. Against the expectations of many, the populist political party emerged victorious with a majority 51.9% of the voters opting for exit effectively setting the stage for the withdrawal of the UK from the EU (Witte 2017). The party had finally achieved its sacred ambition to pull out of the regional block. It had achieved this fete by riding on the wave of anti-immigration, terrorism fears and slowdown in the economy which painted the traditional ruling elite in bad faith.
The populism of the UKIP party had seen its best electoral performance since its formation during the 2013 by-election in Middleton by-elections when it scooped its first ever Westminster seat after Douglas Carswell, the Conservative Member of Parliament defected to the UKIP party. These were indications of a party on the rise having fused its long-term ambition to lead Britain out of the EU with prevailing social and economic challenges (Witte 2017). Its main point of promise was on migration, which sought to limit the entry of migrants into the country while expelling those who had already settled. These were critical issues that worried most voters in the country. It successfully achieved this goal by convincing the electorate that the first step was to leave the alliance (Witte 2017). In the immediate aftermath of the Brexit referendum victory, the UKIP party gained global recognition with its leadership under Nigel Farage delivering keynote speeches in Washington and beyond. Unfortunately, the success story of the UKIP was short-lived.
The successes of the UKIP party during the 2016 Brexit referendum have been quickly lost. The outfit, having emerged from years of obscurity, is faced with a rapid decline, possibly terminally (Mastropaolo 2017). Once its populist ideas of leaving the EU were achieved, the party was left in disarray on how to sustain their propagandist ideas. The feel-good factor has been replaced with vicious feuding among its leaders (Mastropaolo 2017). Nigel Farage, its erstwhile populist leader, resigned from the party. The resignation exposed the party to internal wrangles that threaten to consume it.
Conclusion
The rise of populism across Europe and the world has had a great impact on the nature of politics in Britain. There is probably a no better example of populist ideas and how they can propel parties to the helm only to crumble when their goals are achieved than the UKIP party in the UK. It successfully steered the Brexit referendum achieving its sacred ambition of driving the UK out of the EU. This success has however been short-term, with no particular populist idea to galvanize its energetic political base. The party is facing terminal decline barely a year after the historic achievement.
References
Hunt, A., 2014. UKIP: The story of the UK Independence Party's rise. The BBC. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-21614073
Mastropaolo, A., 2017, October. Populism and Political Representation. In Political Populism (pp. 59-72). Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH " Co. KG. Retrieved from https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/9783845271491-59/chapter-2-populism-and-political-representation
Schuster, S., 2017. Europe’s populist revolt. Times Magazine. Retrieved from http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-populism/
Witte, G., 2017. For Britain’s populist right, Brexit success comes with a poisoned pill. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/for-britains-populist-right-brexit-success-comes-with-a-poisoned-pill/2017/05/31/12b5c4c4-368a-11e7-ab03-aa29f656f13e_story.html?utm_term=.94b2bdcbf7d8
