Down with Elites and Up with Inequality: Market Populism in Australia and Canada

Abstract

There is a rich comparative literature on Australian and Canadian politics but relatively little comparing political discourse, despite the election in both countries of governments promising to 'govern for the mainstream'. This article presents a comparative analysis of market populist discourse as articulated by the Howard and Harper governments, using a conceptualisation of market populism that draws on work by Thomas Frank. The article examines the origins and vectors of this discourse, its adaptation to local circumstances and the way it mobilises resentment against so-called 'elites' and 'special interests' associated with the welfare state and with the intermediary institutions of representative democracy.