. . . other ruffians, as their fancies wrought,
With self same hand, self reasons, and self right,
Would shark on you, and men like ravenous fishes
Would feed on one another.

William Shakespeare, in one of his generally agreed-upon contributions to Sir Thomas More, was in no doubt about the evils of populism when referring to the May Day riot in London in 1517. He depicted mobs in action in a number of plays, most memorably Julius Caesar and Coriolanus, and also in his lengthy presentation of the 1450 Jack Cade rebellion in Henry VI, Part 2.

Discussion of populism, indeed, is an aspect of longstanding debates, philosophical, political, and literary, about the values of democracy and democratization. This discussion goes back to the Classical world, more particularly to the constitution and politics of Athens and Rome, and became newly urgent in the nineteenth century with controversy focusing on the liberal agenda of an expansion in the franchise. The nature of both authority and power in this developing context became matters of concern to critics worried that those without due weight in the community would use the vote to redistribute wealth to their benefit—and to the loss not only of the property owners but also of the greater good and goods of society.

The discussion of populism goes back to the Classical world.

At the same time, such populism appeared necessary to governments as a corollary to the extension