Book review: Populism’s power: radical grassroots democracyin America by Laura Grattan

‘Populism’ has often been used as a pejorative term for a ‘paranoid’, anti-democratic style of politics. But is this the only way of understanding its history? In Populism’s Power: Radical Grassroots in America , Laura Grattan argues that this neglects a different kind of populism in the USA: democratic, egalitarian, radical, rebellious and unifying. This book offers a lively and engaging take on contemporary populist movements, but reminds us that populism’s darker side remains powerful despite its democratising aspirations, writes Jon Dean.