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The central thesis of this study is that systematic use of the term populism is a post-war phenomenon which develops in exact proportion to the disuse of the term ‘the people’: the more peripheral the people in political discourse, the more central populism becomes.

[...] one may throw the term out the window, but others will continue to use and disseminate it. The alternative is precisely to regard its vagueness and self-contradictoriness as its defining characteristic. This was the route taken by Pierre-André Taguieff, for whom populism is a political style …

Politicians must find a way--or several ways for different groups--of framing basic income so as to outflank critics from the media and the establishment, most of whom have had more than the equivalent of a basic income from birth. Opponents will continue to use the sophistry of reciprocity--surely…

Means-tested housing-related benefits might have to be continued in the UK and other countries with distorted housing markets, which should be tackled separately [...]

[...] Empathy derives from a strong faith in the human condition. It is the ability to put oneself in another's shoes and to accept that people have the right to live as they wish, as long as they do no intentional or careless harm to others. Defending these values in the face of lurches to authori…