Moral Consensus and Antiestablishment Politics

Johan Wennström

No 1389, Working Paper Series from Research Institute of Industrial Economics

Abstract: This essay argues that mainstream Left and Right parties’ convergence around the liberal moral foundations of care, fairness, and liberty most likely explains the popular discontent with establishment politicians and the ascendancy of insurgent political parties and movements in both Europe and the United States. It uses the moral consensus of two Swedish establishment parties, the Social Democratic Party and the right-wing Moderate Party, as its primary example. The convergence of those parties can be seen, for instance, in their approach to both education and immigration. The essay suggests that in order to win back wide public support, liberal Left and Right parties must become open to moral pluralism and acknowledge the legitimacy of conservative moral intuitions. Such pluralism would, in fact, be consistent with the traditions of liberalism.

Keywords: Hedgehog–fox metaphor; Moderate Party; Moral foundations theory; Policy convergence; Social Democratic Party (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 D63 D70 D91 F60 J68 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 12 pages
Date: 2021-05-20
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hpe
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