Ep 453: Srikrishna Ayyangar Examines Populism

Amit Varma (0:06)

Perhaps a funniest feature of the human condition is that we think we know everything. Yes, we acknowledge, the world is complex, but we have stories about it that make it simple. Our ancestors were fools. Those who lived in violent times might even have been bloody fools. But we know it all. Now, I'm pretty sure that every generation so far has believed exactly this, that they are at the cutting edge of scientific knowledge and ethical progress and blah blah blah. But think about it for a second, and it is obvious that they were wrong and we are wrong.

To the people of 100 years later, we are ignorant primitives who think they know, but actually they hardly know and hardly think.

This is also true when it comes to the area of today's episode, Political Science. I predict that all our theories and frameworks about politics will seem incomplete at best and laughable at worst within a few decades. The churn in modern global politics over the last decade and a half shows this. So many political theories and frameworks have just fallen apart. In America, for example, no political scientist could have predicted the rise of Trump. They would have told you that the median voter theorem made his presidency impossible. And yet here he is. And both the Republicans and the Democrats have gone crazy and are in the sway of batshit ideas untethered to principle married to tribalism. What even is going on? And if the West cannot understand the West, well, good luck with their understanding India.

Western ways of looking at politics, the left-right spectrum for example, simply do not apply here. We need new thinking by new scholars with new lenses and new methods to begin to make sense of it all. And let me tell you something, there is hope.

Srikrishna Ayyangar (1:40)

Welcome to the Seen and the Unseen, our weekly podcast on economics, politics and behavioral science. Please welcome your host, Amit Barma.

Amit Varma (1:54)

Welcome to the Seen and the Unseen. My guest today is political scientist Srikrishna Ayyangar, who has written an excellent book you must read called, A Logic of Populism. In this book, he examines the nature of populism, uses set theory to study alleged populist leaders in India, and ends up redefining the term. He argues that the conventional notion of populism, which is itself an evolving term in the field, is inadequate for India. You need to add some layers, you need to peel away some layers. And he does this by using set theory to examine Indian politicians in great detail. New methods for new thinking in an old country. Krishna also founded the public policy program at Aaseem Premji University which he ran for 10 years before shifting over to the National Law School of India where he teaches political science. This episode was recorded in his office there in early August and I found it so stimulating. I think you will enjoy it as well but first let's take a quick commercial break.

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Krishna, welcome to the Seen and the Unseen.

Srikrishna Ayyangar (4:21)

Thank you. Thank you, Amit.