Graham Platner’s victory in the Maine Democratic primary, despite controversies that would sink more conventional candidates, shows us that voters are not simply rejecting incumbents. They are responding to candidates – even those with pretty dire baggage – who speak to a widespread belief that the economic system is increasingly rigged in favour of billionaires and large corporations.

In my research with Harvard professor Taeku Lee, based on surveys of more than 36,000 voters across the US, UK, France and Germany, we see a hidden wave of voter opinion that is hostile to big corporations and billionaire influence.

Strikingly, it’s a sentiment that cuts across traditional party lines, which is why Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have both floated the idea of taking public equity in AI companies. This means it’s not just important for the Democratic primaries, but that it could decide the races in November.

This is a potent electoral cocktail. We call it “good populism”, in the sense of being good for democracy. “Good” populist views, which we see across all of these wealthy democracies, are driven by a sense of economic........

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