Crude populism and TINA

 Here, Jan-Werner Müller offers [pdf] what is, for the most part, a fairly standard synthesis of what populism is. However, this line did leap out at me:

"What might be less obvious is that technocracy and populism seem like two extremes opposed to each other – and yet they share an important characteristic: they are both forms of anti-pluralism. Technocrats hold that there’s only one correct policy solution; populists claim that there is only one authentic will of the people (and only they represent it); whoever disagrees with them, reveals themselves as traitor to the people. For both sides, there is no point in exchanging arguments, no space for debate, and, in the end, no real need for an institution like parliament.

In short: both pose dangers to democracy, and the fact that they can perversely reinforce each other compounds the peril."

The idea that there is no alternative (TINA) is as dangerous as it seemed at the time. 

Werner Müller is really worth reading - particularly for his insights (in the LRB - a long read [£]) into the German intellectual malaise that is particularly noticeable after the invasion of Ukraine.