How to sort out ‘good populism’ from bad one

Differentiating a policy for public good and a populist one for votes is extremely difficult.

Suh Kyoung-hoThe author is an editorial writer of the JoongAng Ilbo. We live in an age of a surplus of populism. We will have to get used to it, as populism will certainly be reinforced after the Democratic Party’s landslide victory in the April 10 parliamentary election. Just a week after the triumph, DP leader Lee Jae-myung said, “Who can define our policy as being populist when it really serves the benefit of a majority of the people?”

Lee has never been fearful of the populist label. While as the mayor of Seongnam in 2017, he gave the definition of “good populism.” He said, “What’s wrong with elected officials trying to get votes by saving — yet maximizing the effect of — all the budgets and resources entrusted to them?” In an interview in 2018 as the DP’s presidential candidate, Lee went on to brand himself as the champion of populism. “I am a populist. Politics represent the people, and populism is the means to represent their voices,” he said.

Appearing on a pro-DP YouTube channel in 2021, Lee as the governor of Gyeonggi vowed to proceed with populist platforms, because he was already “recognized as a successful populist” through policies other people perceived as being populist. To a person who is proud to be a populist, any criticism for such an inclination won’t hurt him.

What about President Yoon Suk Yeol and his People Power Party (PPP)? The governing party was overwhelmingly defeated by the DP even though the president and the PPP tried to emulate the DP’s populist spin during the campaign. Their election loss could have had some meaning if they had appealed to voters’ sympathy with its unpopular pension and labor reforms for the country’s future and young generation. While making 24 stops for his pre-election town hall meetings, President Yoon made rosy promises while passing the financial burden to the administration. Even interim PPP leader Han Dong-hoon, a political novice and former justice minister, was criticized for mimicking his liberal counterpart Lee by promising an extension of free education.

The election hangover proves to be more damaging than expected. The over-confidence on the left and the defeatism on the right will most likely push the social axis more to the left. In a recent contribution to a newspaper, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon wrote that it is time for the government and PPP to move from “the neoliberal conservatism” to “compassionate conservatism.” After experiencing voters’ animosity toward the hardline conservative government during her campaign, former PPP lawmaker Yoon Hee-sook, a fierce critic of the populist programs under the former Moon Jae-in administration, argued for the need for “wise populism” even at the cost of “fiscal integrity” to help distressed people stand on their feet again.

Everyone talks of “policies for public wellbeing.” But differentiating a policy for public good and a populist one for votes is extremely difficult. One measurement could be the extent of a dent on fiscal sustainability.

All economic policies and budgets under a conservative government include support for the weak class in society. That is a pillar of all its economic measures. The government’s economic policy outline for this year also includes an inclusive agenda. Instead of all the figurative talk of being “compassionate” or “wise,” the government must debate on the specifics. Exactly what policy of the conservative government is compassionate and wise?

The triumph of populism has become a global trend. I sought out clues to addressing the dilemma in a recent article in The Economist, titled “How to handle populists: a CEO’s survival guide,” but it couldn’t give an answer, either. The best CEOs can do is to dance to the populist tune through consulting and lobbying. The tickets to a “business day” during a conference of the Labour Party, which is expected to become the next British ruling power, were sold out in less than 24 hours. “If you’re not at the table, you’ll probably be on the menu,” their consultant advised. Corporate leaders in other countries were also struggling to survive the harsh “policonomy” age. Could that be some comfort to our businessmen?