Scholars differ as to whether populist beliefs are a discourse or an ideology resembling conservatism or liberalism. Research has shown that a belief in popular sovereignty and a distrust of public officials are core components of populism. Its antithesis is defined as Burke’s claim that officials should exercise their own judgment rather than pander to the public. A national probability sample of U. S. adults is asked to respond to six items that form a populist scale, rank themselves on a conservative-liberal scale, and state their views on education issues. The two scales are only moderately correlated, and each is independently correlated with many opinions about contemporary issues. Populism has a degree of coherence that approximates but does not match that of the conservative-liberal dimension.
The Populist-Burkean Dimension in U.S. Public Opinion
Keywords
populism; public opinion; survey; politics; education; Burkean
Education level
Document Object Identifier (DOI)
10.26300/16wx-yp72
EdWorkingPaper suggested citation:
Shakeel, M. Danish, and Paul E. Peterson. (). The Populist-Burkean Dimension in U.S. Public Opinion. (EdWorkingPaper:
-390). Retrieved from
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