We often talk as though the anger and authoritarianism in our politics were intrinsic, part of some global cycle, or perhaps a response to news fragmentation and the attention-deficit-inducing clickbait of social media. But some countries have managed to hold out against the trend, and it is worth looking at why.

Most European states, it is true, have seen their established political parties upended. The old parties of the Center-Left have been obliterated in France, the Low Countries, and most of Eastern and Central Europe. The Christian Democrats with whom they used to alternate in power have also lost ground across the Continent. Leftist voters have largely gone to more radical parties, especially the Greens. Rightists have turned to populist parties that have little interest in free markets.

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION SETS EV TAX CREDIT RULES MEANT TO CUT OUT CHINA

In the United States, where primaries anchor the parties to public opinion, these changes have happened within the established political blocs. Democrats have become obsessed with identity politics; Republicans have succumbed to Führerprinzip. Both hate free trade.

But things........

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