Mobilised popular bases, not party platforms, are what threaten elite power

Evidence

Sturgeon poses a threat, not merely because of her lawyerly poise in debate, not merely because she has articulated an anti-austerity position, nor even because she makes Scottish independence more likely, but more because she has a mobilised base of support behind her. … Capitalist realism is class war fought by one side only, an organised corporate elite which is very clear about what its own class interests are and what must be done to keep things aligned with those interests. Only a mobilised population can give political parties the power to challenge corporate tyranny. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1783

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Connects to the reader’s interest in mass movements and consent vs coercion dynamics running through the sacral death, silence, and base-readings material.
• XREF: connects to: The threat of revolution compels elites to concede institutional change — Daron Acemoglu, Georgy Egorov, and Konstantin Sonin, Institutional Change and Institutional…, 437; A party becomes indestructible when its mass base and leadership perpetuate themselves; Populism can be mobilized either against or in service of the power bloc (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Elites hold power that mass movements can and do check through organized struggle #corroborates (0.85)
• The threat of revolution compels elites to concede institutional change #corroborates (0.82) — Daron Acemoglu, Georgy Egorov, and Konstantin Sonin, Institutional Change and Institutional…, 437
• Elite power over anti-Muslim discourse is open to contestation by mass movements #corroborates (0.80)
• Populism can be mobilized either against or in service of the power bloc #complicates (0.78)
• A party becomes indestructible when its mass base and leadership perpetuate themselves #qualifies (0.72)