Populism Described in the 2025 World Happiness Report

Results Mapped on the U.S. Political Compass Framework

Defining Populism

Ghazi (2025), writing for the Greater Good Magazine, summarized research by the 2025 World Happiness Report. Building on her article, the quadrants below show how the categories referred to as far left and far right can be understood as fitting into the U.S. political compass. Ghazi writes,

What is populism? According to political scientist Cas Mudde, that’s the idea that society is separated into two groups at odds with one another: the common people and the corrupt elite. (para. 2)

Identifying Populist Elements Within Pew Research's Political Typology

A 2021 Pew Research Center survey of the U.S. general public identified distinct clusters of political beliefs and values, the origins and descriptions of which are detailed in a previous analysis. These Pew typologies offer a lens through which to examine potential populist dynamics within each political party. Specifically, they allow us to discern, within these groups, a more highly educated segment – among which a "corrupt elite" is sometimes perceived – alongside a self-identified "common people." The underlined attributes below highlight characteristics identified by Pew researchers that are particularly relevant to this exploration of populism.

Within Pew's left-leaning clusters, voters with populist leanings primarily had Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren as their options in the 2016 Democratic primaries. By 2024, while Kamala Harris possessed attributes appealing to the progressive left, she lacked a similar populist resonance. ¹ Notably, polling data indicated a shift in support among some traditionally Democratic demographics, including working-class ethnic minorities, towards Donald Trump. ²

Examining the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, which saw a surge in Trump's vote share, World Happiness Report researchers found a correlation between voter abstention and the lowest levels of life satisfaction and social trust. This aligns with Pew's identification of "stressed sideliners," a ninth political typology marked by minimal political engagement.

Cultural vs. Economic Roots of Populist Sentiment

To understand anti-establishment sentiment within each quadrant, one might expect each Pew type indicated in the quadrants above as the more populist to consistently align with economic dissatisfaction. However, considering the traditional political compass where the horizontal axis represents economic views and the vertical axis social values, the distribution becomes more nuanced. For instance, the lower-right quadrant typically houses socially liberal but fiscally conservative individuals (pro-free market), with the most libertarian leaning towards the bottom. This quadrant, often depicted in Reddit political compass memes as a wealthy, sometimes morally dubious figure, is theorized to represent the "corrupt elite." Conversely, Pew's "Democratic Mainstays," despite their surprisingly populist voting patterns in recent elections, are positioned as among the most moderate along the horseshoe, seemingly contradicting a straightforward economic anti-establishment alignment.

Within each quadrant, it would make sense to have the more populist of the two Pew types appear underneath, indicating a more anti-establishment stance from an economic standpoint; however, according to the defined axes of the original political compass, the current layout is more fitting. The horizontal axis is economic while the vertical axis is social and cultural. Accordingly, in the lower right quadrant you would find social liberals who are fiscally conservative (pro-free market) and the most libertine among them would be positioned furthest downward. Those who are educated, and especially the wealthy, would represent this quadrant’s corrupt elite. Some Reddit political compass memes depict a well-dressed man holding a cocktail. Sometimes this quadrant is portrayed as including bitcoin enthusiasts and pedophiles.

Another defense of the current layout applies to the upper left quadrant. Also maintaining the logic of the original political compass, because Pew’s democratic mainstays are defined as more moderate and centrist, they are positioned at the top. This placement represents a somewhat centrist disposition in the horseshoe theory of politics, even though they surprisingly voted more populist in the 2024 election.

Thanks for reading. Here’s a link to the Ghazi (2025) article.

Repeat of Quadrants Content

This section repeats the writing in the quadrants, for any who have difficulty reading in that format. Groups are presented in order of political party size.

Auth-left Quadrant

Pew type: Democratic mainstays

Pew describes this type as less college educated than the average for the poll sample.

Pew type: Establishment liberals

Pew describes this type as preferring gradual change. They recognize societal ills around race and need for correction, but it should come from laws and institutions. Within the auth-left quadrant, elite members of the Democrat party would more likely fall into this type.

Auth-right Quadrant

Pew type: Committed conservatives

Pew describes this type as highly educated. They are fans of Reagan but not Trump. Within the auth-right quadrant, elite members of the Republican party would more likely fall into this type.

Pew type: Faith and flag conservatives

Among other characteristics, Pew describes these as strong trump supporters.

Lib-right Quadrant

Pew type: Populist right

Pew describes this type as the less college educated than the average for the poll sample. They tend to believe that U.S. law favors a powerful few, that the rich should be taxed more, and are strong Trump supporters. As the Pew label suggests, this group has strong populist sentiment.

Pew type: Ambivalent right (dissident right)

Pew notes these are not Trump supporters. Although this quadrant likely has more populist tendency in general, elites of this quadrant might be more likely here.

Lib-left (Green) Quadrant

Pew type: Progressive left

This Pew type tends to be young and highly educated. The elite of the lib-left quadrant would come from this group.

Pew type: Outsider left

Many in this Pew type identify as independents and tend not to approve of Republicans or Democrats, which indicates a dissatisfaction with the status quo.

References

1. Analysis: Kamala Harris Turned Away From Economic Populism - Jacobin

2. How shifts among key demographic voting groups sealed Trump's 2024 election victory