Summary: From Brexit to the election of Donald Trump to the rise of Marine Le Pen, a populist wind is blowing on both sides of the Atlantic. Some associate populism with demagoguery and worry that it threatens to overwhelm democracy. Others see it as the last best hope for democracy: a justified revolt of ordinary people against overbearing and self-serving elites. In this Russell Kirk Lecture, Roger Kimball will discuss the implications for democracy of the rise of this new populism.
