The New Electronic Populism

NONE OF the world’s politics today is business as usual. Soviet-style Communism is dead. Political leaders who enjoyed great success in the 1980s or even later are being summarily thrown out of office (George Bush, Margaret Thatcher) or declining markedly in popularity (Francois Mitterrand, Helmut Kohl). Socialist parties are losing elections and becoming irrelevant, except in countries like Germany and Spain where they openly embrace capitalism. But unabashedly capitalist parties are hardly thriving, as witness the defeat of George Bush and the low

poll ratings of Prime Minister John Major.