Particularism vs. Pragmatism

...which gets me to another thing. How can you differentiate between "populism," which presumably has implications of irresponsibility, "pragmatism," which is presumably desirable, and "particularism," which is assumed to be undesirable.

Pragmatism has something to do with being practical and non-ideological.

Populism is a poorly defined term as well, but presumably has something to do with giving the people what they want. Maureen once pointed out to me that this is also a big part of democracy, but there are clearly times when governments do irresponsible things to satisfy public demand.

Particularism has something to do with corruption--politicians supporting policies that promote narrow interests (rather than the interests of the majority) in order to receive some advantage, either politically or economically.

Populism and particularism both are seen as undesirable, but they are also, in some ways, opposites.

So, when does a policy go from being particularistic to being pragmatic? Is the support of some local industry (a milk industry, for example) particularistic if it directly advantages only one small group of the population, not nearly a majority, even if it is promoting economic development that will have positive spillover effects and secondary effects for others in the area? The milk producers will, for example, buy products from local merchants and will use local transportation firms (taxis and buses, for example), to get around.

And when do you know when a government has gone from pragmatic to being populist? Is constructing homes for the impoverished populism if it will result in healthier children and more productive adults, even if it is, at its core, basically a handout?

These are normative questions--not to downplay normative questions, because they're important--but they also have practical implications. Effectively, where do you draw the line between desirable and undesirable policies at the local level? If I want to know when a government is doing a good job (which is clearly something that interests me), I need to know what a "good job" consists of.