当代民粹主义的两极化趋势及其制度根源

The Polarization of Populism and Its Institutional Origins

民粹主义在历史上出现过四次浪潮,前三次总体上呈现出偏左的政治色彩。在21世纪初叶,第四次民粹主义浪潮席卷欧美,却出现不同于以往的、左翼与右翼同时并举的两极化趋势。引领全球化已达30年的新自由主义催生和助长了这一趋势,其经济政策导致财富集中和分配不均,中下层陷入经济焦虑,左翼民粹主义由此萌生;而新自由主义所倡导的文化价值加剧了身份政治和其他单一议题政治,中下层的身份焦虑激发了右翼民粹主义。新自由主义在政治上主张的代议民主出现种种弊端,成为左翼与右翼民粹反精英、反建制的共同政治诱因,是激发当今民粹主义两极化趋势的制度根源。

There have been four waves of populism in history,and the first three were generally left-leaning on the political spectrum.Since the beginning of the 21st century,the fourth wave of populism has swept Europe and America and exhibited a different tendency—polarization with both leftist and rightist strands.Neoliberalism,which has led globalization for thirty years,has bred and accelerated this tendency.The neoliberal economic policies have brought about concentration of wealth and inequitable distribution,and the middle and lower class are trapped in economic anxiety.Therefore,the leftist populism rises.The cultural values advocated by neoliberalism have aggravated identity politics and other single-issue politics,and the middle and lower class identity anxiety triggered the rightist populism.The various drawbacks of representative democracy,which constitutes the political proposal of neoliberalism,are the political stimulus for the anti-elitist and anti-establishment stances of both leftist and rightist populism and the institutional origins of the polarization tendency of current populism.