Populist leaders across the globe, including Alice Weidel (AfD, Germany), Santiago Abascal (Vox, Spain), Giorgia Meloni (Italy), and Donald Trump (US), frequently attack bureaucracy. They portray it as inefficient, obstructive, and an enemy of progress, citing examples of alleged waste, fraud, and stifling of freedom.
The author challenges this populist narrative. They argue that, contrary to populist rhetoric, bureaucracy is not inherently sclerotic or anti-liberty. Instead, it provides essential structure and support for innovation and individual liberties.
For populists – who stake their political careers on bombastic promises and dubious declarations of quick “victories” – the deliberate pace of bureaucracy makes it an easy target. But far from a sclerotic force destined to strangle innovation and liberty, bureaucracy forms the scaffolding for both.
DELPHI – Populists love to hate bureaucracy. Alice Weidel, the leader of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland – now the country’s second-strongest party – says that clueless European Union bureaucrats are destroying the bloc’s free-market foundations. Santiago Abascal, who leads Spain’s far-right Vox party, accuses the same bureaucrats of attempting to “liquidate freedom,” while Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni calls the EU an “invasive bureaucratic giant.” Across the Atlantic, US President Donald Trump is dismantling a federal bureaucracy that he claims is rife with “waste, fraud, and abuse,” and “stifles personal freedom.” Bureaucracy, as they portray it, is the enemy of progress.
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