ABSTRACT
According to ideational theory, failures in democratic representation fuel the demand for populism and serve to make populist claims-making more credible. In this chapter, I show that, in the US case, increasing levels of ideological conflict between the two major political parties opened up a large representation gap in the American public. By 2014, this gap was experienced most acutely by white, working-class, and rural voters, a constituency whose anti-elitism was stoked by growing pessimism about the viability of the American Dream and uneasiness about levels of immigration. Using an original survey conducted during the presidential nomination process in 2016, I show that Donald Trump was able to activate the populist attitudes of this latent coalition through his populist rhetoric, providing him with the support necessary to best his Republican Party rivals despite the opposition of the Republican establishment. During the general election, I demonstrate, using the 2016 American National Election Study, that populist attitudes continued to be mobilized by his candidacy during the fall campaign. I conclude that ideational theory fits well the processes that led ultimately to Trump’s Electoral College victory.
