We explain what demagoguery is, the origin of the term, its history and negative traits. Also, examples of demagoguery in politics.
What is demagoguery?
In politics, demagoguery is understood to be the practice of winning the favor of the masses through flattery, concessions, manipulations and emotional stratagems, in order to perpetuate itself in the can political or having access to it.
In other words, demagogues are those who seek political favoritism through speeches and promises that have nothing to do with politics, but rather with emotions most basic of people.
Demagoguery, thus, can be translated into stirring fear and hatred towards a supposed common enemy, or in flattering and sweetening people, telling them what they want to hear, instead of inviting them to think for themselves and make decisions. It is a common practice in democracies and that from the antiquity it has been classified as a degeneration of the democratic spirit.
The origin of this word, in fact, dates back to the Ancient Greece and to the voices demos ("Town") and Aug ("Herding" or "driving"), the latter in a pastoral sense of the term. Thus, since ancient democracy, demagoguery was already considered as something negative, since the politician "herded" the society instead of abiding by their mandates.
In fact, Aristotle (384-322 BC) claimed that demagogues were "flatterers of the people" and that their triumph in society often led to the emergence of autocracies or personal tyrannies; although throughout the history with the excuse of ending demagoguery, numerous dictatorships.
Another negative feature of demagoguery is that it does not lead the masses to fight for their interests, but rather uses them for the very personal benefit of the demagogue or the political class, which, according to certain authors, could distinguish demagoguery from demagoguery. populism. Both terms, however, are often used more or less as synonyms.
Examples of demagoguery
The following situations are examples of demagoguery:
- A ruling politician who introduces false dilemmas through his speeches, to force the electorate to assume Manichean positions: "either you are with me or you are against me", thus preventing critical judgment. The mere fact that questioning a argument go on to turn one into an "enemy" is enough so that few dare to raise their voices against him.
- A campaigning politician who, through flattery and expressions of supposed admiration for his electorate, leads him to think of themselves as "the good guys" and the demagogue's political rivals as "the bad guys," in order to take advantage of hatred and division to win. elections.
- A ruler who blames all the problems that his own management has on his political opponents and the continuous intervention of his enemies, never to take responsibility for anything and radicalize his followers by making them feel under attack, thus perpetuating himself in power.