I’d say theory has been refined in practice.
Edit: And this is why I don’t like labels. You think you know what I said because I wanted to define your label.
Horseshoe Theory has many critics. I personally don’t think of it as elitism in the center and popularism at the ends. That’s not true - neither end is Popularist. These extremes just oppose whatever the democratic status quo is. They want extreme solutions and anyone who tries to moderate is labeled Elitist or Capitulant…both labels deny that most of us live in the center, trying to balance one sides wants with the other.
I reiterate: Labels are a bad idea.
I would add that extremism of any kind will never get full support of most of the population, so whenever they get any kind of power, it leads to the same authoritarian patters, brutal targetting of opposition, elimination of plurality of opinion, all-encompassing propaganda etc.
Extremism leads to structures which are antithetic to freedom, basically.
While they don’t get the same support, because they are so extreme, they get the most attention … in the press, in social media, in the general zeitgeist. They hover above all conversations and pollute downstream goal and choices.
I think it’s only once it gains mindset and traction does the forcers of Democracy kick into gear; the trick is to move democracy forward quickly before traction becomes entrenchment (like the Supreme Court).
