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Legitimacy as a zero-sum game : presidential populism and the performative success of the unauthorized outsider
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Peetz, Julia (2020) Legitimacy as a zero-sum game : presidential populism and the performative success of the unauthorized outsider. Contemporary Political Theory, 19 (4). pp. 642-662. doi:10.1057/s41296-019-00375-3 ISSN 1470-8914.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/s41296-019-00375-3
Abstract
Despite the fact that US presidential candidates commonly position themselves as Washington outsiders, this broadly populist positioning has thus far been significantly undertheorized. On the one hand, scholars of political representation have explored how politicians connect with political audiences; on the other, populism research has focused on the construction, mainstreaming and appeal of populist performances. A detailed theorization of the paradoxical performative operation by which self-styled political outsiders come to be more effective in connecting with political audiences than accomplished politicians has yet to be undertaken. This article explores the performativity of outsider positioning, paying particular attention to its effect on perceptions of legitimacy. The article investigates legitimacy as a complex and paradoxical performative phenomenon that involves multiple competing sources of agency. The case is made that, by discouraging the perception of the political system as a unified whole, populist-style performances by mainstream politicians undermine institutional legitimacy. In a way that is at odds at odds with the cooperative demands inherent in the US federal government, these performances encourage the perception that the self-styled outsider is engaged in a strictly competitive zero-sum game with the institutional structure and its representatives.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
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Subjects: | J Political Science > JA Political science (General) J Political Science > JC Political theory N Fine Arts > NX Arts in general |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Arts > Theatre, Performance and Cultural Policy Studies | ||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Performance art -- Political aspects , Political culture , Performance -- Political aspects , Populism , Communication in politics , Legitimacy of governments | ||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Contemporary Political Theory | ||||||||
Publisher: | Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. | ||||||||
ISSN: | 1470-8914 | ||||||||
Official Date: | December 2020 | ||||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 19 | ||||||||
Number: | 4 | ||||||||
Page Range: | pp. 642-662 | ||||||||
DOI: | 10.1057/s41296-019-00375-3 | ||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights): | This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Contemporary Political Theory. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/s41296-019-00375-3. | ||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 14 January 2020 | ||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 16 December 2020 |
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