[drzaiusapelord]

>In third world countries, populism is often triggered by promising people finances from government coffers.

I disagree. Voting for the guy who will bring in job subsidies, factory subsidies, farm subsidies, government investment in rural areas, government contracts, federal projects, etc to your area is absolutely finances from the government coffers and one of, if not the largest, campaign issue during the 2016 US presidential race.

>third world countries have people who rely on the government to meet their basic needs.

Most of rural America, nearly 50m people, would collapse overnight if not for farm subsidies, factory job creation tax credits, and all manner of welfare. Even with all these things the rural poverty rate is almost 20%. Poor parts of urban America are almost as bad.

I think you're dismissing how poor much of America is and how much these people depend on the government to survive.