PROFESSOR ANDRÉS VELASCO

PROFESSOR AMIT RON

PROFESSOR BENJAMÍN ARDITI
PUBLIC
DR. ERIC LANGENBACHER
DR. HANS-GEORG BETZ JURIST
DR. MAJIA NADESAN

COVID-19 AND POPULISM IN THE WEST

FUTURE OF THE POPULIST FEVER AND DEMOCRACY
WITH AN INTERVIEW WITH PROFESSOR ANDRÉS VELASCO, FORMER FINANCE MINISTER OF CHILE

NOVEMBER ISSUE 2020

 PROLOGUE II

PREFACE
from the EDITORIAL BOARD
For those who are interested in international
politics, it is not difficult to observe that the rise
of populism has become a global phenomenon
over the past decade. Across Europe and the
Americas, many important leadership positions
have been occupied by populists, namely in
countries like Brazil and Hungary. Notably, the
shocks of the Brexit referendum and the 2016
U.S. presidential election have been regarded as
results of the wide-spreading populism. All these
seem to support the fact that populism has been
popular.
Nevertheless, the year 2020, though only
halfway over, changed everything. The ongoing
coronavirus pandemic struck the world in an
unexpected manner. With lockdowns rolled
over the world, huge numbers of deaths, and
economic destruction, populism has been widely
challenged. Populist leaders have been criticized
for incompetence, and that their policies go
against the will of people and curtail freedom.
However, is it appropiate for us to establish a
link between populism and COVID-19? And if so,
the ultimate question will be: Will the virus kill
off populism or make it stronger?
This issue of Public Jurist addresses this
questions by offering you different perspectives
on how populism responds in the context
of coronavirus, be it left-wing or right-wing.
Contributors are all experts in the field of
populism. They include, in no particular order,
Professor Andrés Velasco, Dean of the School of
Public Policy at the London School of Economics
and Former Finance Minister of Chile; Dr. Hans-
Georg Betz, Adjunct Professor of Political
Science, University of Zurich; Dr. Majia Nadesan,
Professor of communication in the School of
Social and Behavioral Sciences, Arizona State
University; Professor Amit Ron, Associate
Professor of Political Science, Arizona State
University; Professor Benjamin Arditi, Professor
of Politics, National University of Mexico; Dr.
Eric Langenbacher, Senior Fellow and Director
of the Society, Culture & Politics Program at
American Institute for Contemporary German
Studies, Johns Hopkins University.
The Government and Laws Committee would
like to express our sincere gratitude to our
contributors. As Hong Kong is currently
experiencing the third wave of COVID-19, we
wish you good health amid such a difficult time.

EDITORIAL BOARD
Editors-in-Chief
Ms. Natalie Y Y Suen, BSocSc (Govt&Laws) & LLB II Ms. Vivian L S Wong, BSocSc (Govt&Laws) & LLB II
Mr. Trevor T W Wan, BSocSc (Govt&Laws) & LLB IV

Associate Editors
Ms. Candice L Y Chen, BSocSc (Govt&Laws) & LLB III Mr. Anfield C H Tam, BSocSc (Govt&Laws) & LLB II
Mr. Frederick H H Leung, BSocSc (Govt&Laws) & LLB III Mr. Bosco P Y Chan, BSocSc (Govt&Laws) & LLB II
Mr. Isaac C N Ng, BSocSc (Govt&Laws) & LLB III Mr. Jasper S C Jung, BSocSc (Govt&Laws) & LLB II
Ms. Nydia K Y Yeung, BSocSc (Govt&Laws) & LLB IV Ms. Scarlet Y C Wong, BSocSc (Govt&Laws) & LLB II
PROLOGUE IV

CONTENTS
5 AN INTERVIEW WITH 17 POPULIST COVID-19 NARRATIVES:
PROFESSOR ANDRÉS VELASCO POPULIST THREAT OR DEMOCRATIC
Dean, School of Public Policy, The London School of ANTIDOTE?
Economics

Former Finance Minister of Chile (2006-2010)

Dr. Majia Nadesan
Professor, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences,
9 POPULISM AND THE RESPONSE TO Arizona State University
COVID-19: IS THERE A CAUSAL LINK?
Professor Amit Ron
Professor Benjamín Arditi Associate Professor, School of Social and Behavioral
Political Theorist, National University of Mexico, UNAM Sciences, Arizona State University

24 RADICAL RIGHT-WING POPULISM AND

13 HAS THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC GLOBALIZATION IN A POST-COVID19
BROKEN THE POPULIST FEVER? WORLD

Dr. Eric Langenbacher Dr. Hans-Georg Betz

Associate Teaching Professor and Director of Honors Adjunct Professor of Political Science, University of
and Special Programs, Department of Government,
Zurich
Georgetown University

Senior Fellow and Director of the Society, Culture &

Politics Program at AICGS
29 REVIEW

30 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
 BENJAMÍN ARDITI
POPULISM AND THE RESPONSE TO COVID-19:
IS THERE A CAUSAL LINK?
PROFESSOR BENJAMÍN ARDITI
Political Theorist at National University of Mexico, UNAM
Benjamin Arditi is a Political
Theorist at School of Politics and
Social Sciences, National University
of Mexico, UNAM. His recent
researches and publications have
focused on various aspects of post -
liberal politics.
9
P
opulism is usually a derogatory term
reserved for one’s opponents. There
are exceptions, as some take it as a
badge of honor. Nigel Farrage on the
right, so intimately associated with Brexit in
2016, takes pride of being a populist, and so
does Pablo Iglesias, the founder and leader of
the left-wing Podemos party in Spain, currently a
partner in the governing coalition. But the word
is mostly seen as an analogue of demagogues
willing to rally people around whatever issue
seems to increase their electoral standing,
false prophets whose followers have an almost
mystical devotion for them, or as shorthand for
the government of popular dilettantes who will
ruin everything.
During the sanitary emergency triggered by
the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, many wrote
about the incompetence of left and right-
 BENJAMÍN ARDITI 10
wing populists in the handling of the pandemic control scientist was wrong about the resilience
because they rejected the views of experts of the virus while he openly refused to take
and therefore heightened the devastating responsibility for a number of deaths that
effects of the virus, thereby establishing could have been much lower if he acted sooner
a causal relationship between populism, (Conway 2020). If we look at the data available
incompetence and the denial of science (Velasco at the time of writing this article (mid-August
2020, Daniszewski 2020). Really? Can one 2020), the number of deaths and the cases per
take concurrence to mean causality? Matteo million inhabitants in the U.S. were 170,000 and
Salvini, the leader of the Italian Lega and an 16,000, correspondingly. The populist president
outspoken Eurosceptic, blasted the European and his government get an “F” grade.
Commission for not giving sufficient funds to
Italy to deal with the crisis. Why call Salvini a
populist, as the media and scholars do, when In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro assumed his
status as the Trump of the Tropics and denied
there are many— and
the seriousness of
more precise— labels to
the crisis, ignored the
describe what he stands
health resolutions of
for? Opportunism and
his own government
demagoguery are the Why call Salvini a and dismissed his
ones that come to mind populist, as the media health minister for
first. Alternatively, why and scholars do, when supporting the policy
not criticize the European there are many— and of staying home and
Commission for its slow more precise— labels to maintaining social
response to the financial describe what he stands distance. In an example
and logistic demands of for? Opportunism and of suicidal surrealism,
countries in southern demagoguery are the he also participated in
Europe that suffered ones that come to mind demonstrations against
most in the first months first. Congress and the
of the pandemic? I’ll say
Judiciary to force the
more on this shortly.
reopening of restaurants,
shopping centers,
T h e p e r f o r m a n c e o f g o v e r n m e n t s a n d factories, schools and gyms. Despite his denial
politicians usually described as populists was of the seriousness of the pandemic, which he
not the same across the board. Let me look at called “a little flu”, by July Bolsonaro and his
this by examining how three governments led wife had contracted the virus. The number of
by so-called populists addressed the sanitary deaths were better, 105,000, and the cases per
emergency. The U.S. response to the pandemic million inhabitants 15,000. This is appalling when
was sloppy and incompetent, largely due to compared to Brazil’s neighbors, both of whom
Donald Trump’s refusal to prepare the country acted quickly and decisively: Argentina with
and face reality when the outbreak began. 5,200 deaths and 5,900 cases per million, and
George Conway reminds his readers about this Paraguay with only 86 deaths and 12 cases per
in an article for the Washington Post. In January million. Like Trump, Bolsonaro gets an “F”.
and February, Trump claimed that Covid-19 was
“totally under control” and called the virus the
democrat’s “new hoax”, and as the infection In Mexico, the government of President Andres
spread and people began to die, he suggested Manuel López Obrador was relatively slow to
that doctors should try injecting patients with implement the use of facemasks, and gave
household disinfectants. Trump topped this up mixed signals about social distancing, but it
by saying that his government’s top disease implemented an epidemiological response
 BENJAMÍN ARDITI 11

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro wearing a protective face mask reacts during a news conference
(Source: Reuters)

based on the peculiarities of the population and
the resources of the state. It took for granted
that in a country where over 50% of adults work
in the informal sector, it would be very difficult,
if not impossible, to impose a total lockdown
as happened in the North of Italy, in Spain or
around Wuhan in China. It also factored in the
fact that a high percentage of the population
suffers from obesity and diabetes, mainly due
to the high consumption of carbonated drinks
and junk food, both of which are risk factors
affecting the survival rate of those who get
coronavirus. Finally, it knew that thirty years of
spending cuts in social services had left public
hospitals ill-equipped to deal with an emergency.
The government’s goal was to impose a
voluntary lockdown to reach, at best, 60% of
the population off the streets, as opposed to
80% in Chile and elsewhere. They also sought
to prevent the saturation of hospital facilities.
Officials claimed to have come close to the 60%
mark, and the occupancy rate of hospital beds
assigned for those arriving with respiratory
problems reached 80% during the peak and then
went down to 38% nationally. The number of
deaths in mid-August reached 54,000 people,
which makes Mexico one of the countries with a
higher number of deaths, mainly due to the risk
factors mentioned above and the impossibility of
keeping people from taking subways and buses
to procure their livelihood. The number of cases
per million inhabitants was a remarkably low
and manageable 3,800 people. Considering the
limited room of maneuver of the government,
its performance was not bad. President López
Obrador gets a “B minus”, much better than his
fellow populist colleagues in the U.S. and Brazil.
How about the numbers in the case of
governments not usually described as populists,
like the United Kingdom, Italy or Sweden?
With 46,700 Britons dead, the UK was the
country with the highest number of deaths in
Europe, followed closely by Italy with 35,000.
Their deaths per million were 4,600 and
3,100, correspondingly. Both countries were
overwhelmed, but the UK, a much stronger
European economy, could have done much
better if Prime Minister Boris Johnson took a
strong leadership position in the early days of
the crisis and if the successive Prime Ministers
 BENJAMÍN ARDITI 12
f r om Ma rga re t Tha t cher onwar d hadn’t Daniszewski, John (2020), “The Populism Factor:
embarked in a process of virtual privatization in Struggle Against Pandemic, Populist Leaders
of health services through funding cuts to the Fare Poorly”, Detroit Legal News, 24 July, http://
National Health Service. Sweden, a country legalnews.com/detroit/1490190/. Accessed July
that did invest in its health services and had 2020.
one of the best equipped governments to deal
with the pandemic chose to follow a different
path from the rest. Instead of closing schools, Ve l a s c o , A n d r é s ( 2 0 2 0 ) , “ T h e P o p u l i s t ’
bars, restaurants and suspending concerts and Pandemic”, Project Syndicate, 1 May,
other public events, it chose to wait for herd https://www.project-syndicate.org/
immunity on the assumption that Swedes would commentary/covid19-could-strengthen-or-
be careful in their daily interactions. It was an weaken-populists-by-andres-velasco-2020-
experiment with mixed results: 5,700 deaths 05?barrier=accesspaylog. Accessed July 2020.
and 8,200 cases per million inhabitants, the
worst among Scandinavian countries (which
Worldometer (2020), “Covid-19 Coronavirus
also include Denmark, Finland and Norway).
Pandemic”, https://www.worldometers.info/
coronavirus/. Accessed 12 August 2020.
To summarize, the U.S., Brazil and Mexico, all
of them governed by leaders that academics
describe as populists, did worse than their non-
populist colleagues, but that the response
of different populist governments varied in
terms of their results, and that other leaders,
like those of the UK, Italy and Sweden didn’t
perform as well as expected. What follows from
this quick comparative effort is that it is difficult
to establish a clear, causal connection between
populism and failure in tackling the covid-19
pandemic, or between non-populism and
success. The lesson we might learn from this is
that populism functions basically as a word to
disqualify political adversaries as incompetent,
ordinary, or unworthy of higher office. One
doesn’t simply call adversaries “populists”; one
accuses them of being populists and then draws
all kinds of policy and political inferences from
this fact.

References

Conway, George (2020), “I (still) believe the

president, and in the president”, The Washington
Post, 10 August, https://www.washingtonpost.
com/opinions/2020/08/10/i-still-believe-
president-president/. Accessed 12 August 2020.