This, from David Brooks, is very pithy and strikes me as very smart (via Ezra Klein)
…populism is popular with the ruling class. Ever since I started covering politics, the Democratic ruling class has been driven by one fantasy: that voters will get so furious at people with M.B.A.’s that they will hand power to people with Ph.D.’s. The Republican ruling class has been driven by the fantasy that voters will get so furious at people with Ph.D.’s that they will hand power to people with M.B.A.’s. Members of the ruling class love populism because they think it will help their section of the elite gain power.
Probably a bit simplistic, but any one-paragraph summation of a subject like “populism in Washington D.C.” is always going to be. Still, a good way to start thinking about a political philosophy that is going to be quite dominant in our post-bailout political culture.