Brexit, Bernie, Trump and Turnbull: modern democracies are being challenged by populist politics and ambitious politicians are riding the wave of newly mobilised voters. In the United States, the threat of civil war within the Republican Party as it struggles with the balance of policy and populism is very real. What will the rise of Donald Trump mean for the party of ideas before and after the 2016 presidential election?
Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the US Ethics and Public Policy Center, discussed this and other challenges to modern American conservatism in conversation with Professor Simon Jackman, Chief Executive Officer, and Brendon O’Connor, associate professor in American politics at the United States Studies Centre.