M. Grégoire

"The right-wing populists are gaining ground in so many countries because the cultural liberals in various parliaments and congresses are extremely reluctant to meet the preferences of their median voters. On the immigration issue most of all. And then they wish to talk about threats to democracy!"

#TylerCowen

A median voter theory of right-wing populism
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2025/08/a-median-voter-theory-of-right-wing-populism.html

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#politics #conservatism
#MarginalRevolution

A median voter theory of right-wing populism - Marginal REVOLUTION

From a recent paper: Populists are often defined as those who claim that they fill “political representation gaps” -differences between the policymaking by established parties and the “popular will.” Research has largely neglected to what extent this claim is correct. I study descriptively whether representation gaps exist and their relationship with populism. To this end, I analyze […]

Marginal REVOLUTION
Sep 2, 2025 at 2:39amWeb
Show threadM. GrégoireSep 2, 2025

One of the reasons the #CPC is quite different from the UK Reform Party, the US Republicans or the German AfD is that there's a much weaker anti-immigration sentiment here in Canada, and even less anti-immigrant feeling. Until the #HousingCrisis arrived, it's been the opinion of most Canadians that #immigration was quite successful here. (Québec is an outlier, as integration of immigrants into francophone society has always been a concern.)

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#CanPol #cdnpoli #polqc

Show threadLeftyLabourTechTorontoSep 2, 2025

@mpjgregoire The term "populism" I find is often misused, particularly in liberal circles to describe the politics of the new far right.

In truth, populism originated on the left in 1890's Kansas to be exact. Historian Thomas Frank has researched and written a number of books on this issue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VgeB-GG76U

America's Forgotten Populist History w/ Thomas Frank

YouTube
Show threadLeftyLabourTechTorontoSep 2, 2025

@mpjgregoire As for the housing crisis in Canada, it largely stems from governments having abandoned non-market and particularly its cooperative housing program 30 or so years ago.

Canada once had a thriving cooperative housing sector that was such a success, that other countries copied it. Success as it was, the Mulroney/Chretien/Martin regimes completely abandoned it.

Now we have a horrendous housing crisis. Surprise, surprise!

Show threadLeftyLabourTechTorontoSep 2, 2025

@mpjgregoire I was involved in the cooperative housing sector back then and we all knew the government's move would be a disaster. 30 years later, it's a bigger disaster than even we thought it would be.

But rather than actually fix things, better to line the pockets of private developers and blame immigrants.

Show threadM. GrégoireSep 2, 2025

@leftylabourtech
1. Yes, the only common feature of "populism" is opposition to elites.

2. Do you mean that increasing the rate of population growth via higher immigration numbers while keeping house building rates constant had no effect on house prices? Or that if we had maintained federal funding for housing development there wouldn't have been a problem? Or something else?

Show threadLeftyLabourTechTorontoSep 2, 2025
@mpjgregoire 1. Populism was a reaction to wealthy corporate and banking elites in the 1890's. What gets called "right populism" is at best "fake popuism" as it is in the end, just culture war bullshit n the service of corporate elites.
Show threadLeftyLabourTechTorontoSep 2, 2025

@mpjgregoire 2, The real question is one of housing affordability and not the amount of housing. For instance there is a condo glut in Toronto that's about to get much worse.

There is NO private market based solution to the housing crisis. The private capitalist market made the housing crisis MUCH worse.

Efforts at non-market housing while never totally adequate either, at least brought a degree of relief to those on lower incomes. But that relief vanished 30 years ago.

Show threadLeftyLabourTechTorontoSep 2, 2025
@mpjgregoire Instead of taking ACTUAL measures to deal with the housing crisis it's much easier for our ruling class to blame the most exploited and victimized members of the working class for the housing crisis and anything else that the ruling class wants to pin on immigrants.
Show threadobcSep 2, 2025
@leftylabourtech @mpjgregoire I grew up in one of such housing coops. It really was great housing and a nice place to live.