Populism, Anti‐Intellectualism, and Political Performance: Understanding Patterns in U.S. Presidential Campaign Rhetoric, 1952–2020

Abstract

Drawing on a large corpus of political rhetoric that encompasses 21 US presidential campaigns between 1952 and 2020, this article provides a sociological account of the politician's anti‐intellectual performance. To exact the dynamics of this understudied performance, I compare frames on intellectualism put forth by populist and non‐populist candidates on both the political left and right. In order to distance themselves from the intellectually elitist aspects of their position, I find that anti‐intellectual performers have repeatedly (1) integrated notions of common sense into ideal conceptions of political leadership, (2) justified a lack of cooperation with experts by characterizing references to complexity and expertise as illegitimate and/or ploys to cover self‐interestedness, and (3) established proximity to the audience by using symbolic signifiers that coalesce into a low epistemic style. By locating salient patterns of anti‐intellectualism in political rhetoric, this article elaborates both the logic of political performance and the social character of the populist actor.