Populism, business and the transformation of network governance

The rise of populism in the US, Europe, Asia and Latin America in the 2010s has had a profound effect on how business interacts with government. The impact of populism on the institutions and policy-making processes of government has been to destabilise the expectations and routine behaviours of businesses about how they can influence policy and politics. Populist leaders have attacked elites in the name of the people, undermining the role of networks that linked together business, civil servants, experts and politicians in quiet decision-making arenas. Instead, they engage in noisy politics, making policy pronouncements often via social media with limited technical input from or evaluation by business. Businesses find themselves with less influence and the networks on which they previously relied increasingly redundant, as the populist leader cultivates systems of patronage and clientelism, favouring particular firms and business leaders in return for their political support. This entry explores the different responses of business to the decline of network governance and the emergence of clientelism and patronage.