This was an interesting read on populism, its origins and history, and its recent rise. The book seemed well-researched and was certainly thought-provoking. I will recommend it to the students in the American culture class that I teach.

Populism is a powerful force in politics, both in the United States and elsewhere, and is rarely a force for good. A fact based, even handed review of the philosophy and deeds of populism, along with recommendations to bring change to our political discourse, would have been a welcome contribution to our body of political knowledge. Sadly, the authors have not provided this. Instead, we are treated to a buffet of the misdeeds of conservative populism, with a hasty glossing over of left-wing populism to give the appearance of even handedness.

The hard reality is that poor people in Venezuela are just as victimized as poor people in Mississippi. And even in the United States, populism is used just as effectively by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as it is by Donald Trump. By turning populism into a partisan issue, the authors have compromised the credibility and effectiveness of their work here.

In selecting this book, I hoped to find a practical solution to the real problem of populism. It may be that this was buried somewhere in the 260 pages of this book. But after a couple of hours of reading what felt more like a Michael Moore email than a serious investigation of a leading political problem, I wasn't going to spend another minute looking for it.