George Wallace and Enoch Powell: Comparing the Politics of Populist Conservatism in the USA and the UK

Abstract

By comparing the politics of populist Conservatism in the USA and in the UK through the examples of George Wallace and Enoch Powell (extreme-right French leader Jean-Marie Le Pen could be a third example, although he never gained access to any executive position), Michael Kazin and Stéphane Porion show that, far from being an intellectual version of Wallace’s populist rhetoric, Powell claimed to be the true defender of historic Tory ideals. Yet both of them—like Le Pen later in France—were very skillful in exploiting frustration within those parts of society who could feel left aside by the processes of social and political modernization.