The Realignment 556 | Steve Teles: Are the Abundance Agenda and Populism Incompatible?
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Jun 3, 2025 
Steve Teles, a professor at Johns Hopkins and senior fellow at the Niskanen Center, dives into the tensions between populism and the abundance agenda. He shares insights from a pivotal poll showing that many voters lean towards populism. Teles argues that these two concepts can complement each other rather than conflict. He discusses the pitfalls of over-relying on polling data and how the abundance agenda could tackle issues such as accessibility in higher education, emphasizing the need for proactive reform.
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Populism vs Abundance Roles
- Voters prefer populist messages on corporate power during elections but the abundance agenda is more about governing and fixing bottlenecks.
- The abundance agenda and populism are not oppositional but serve different political and governing functions.
Limits of Message Testing Polls
- Message testing polls often do not predict real-world political outcomes accurately.
- Politicians learn from actual campaigns and governance, not just polls, making changes based on success or failure rather than polling alone.
Abundance's Practical Political Appeal
- The abundance agenda influences politicians who face constituent problems by offering concrete policy solutions.
- Politicians become abundance advocates by seeing solutions work rather than just messaging appeals.