Naming no names--because it's not necessary--the word has come up a bit lately. I think I know what a demagogue is, though I can't quite define it, and it's high time I put an end to that. In this political moment, we need to be able to define our terms more precisely.
According to the Oxford Dictionaries a demagogue is "a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument". Which maybe sounds a bit like all politicians everywhere. Perhaps it's a matter of degree.
"Demagogue" entered English in around 1640. The Greek demagogos meant leader of the people, demos being "people" and agagos meaning "leader", according to the Online Etymology Dictionary. So it seems not to have originally been a pejorative term. But the same dictionary also mentions that the word has been used as a pejorative often since its first use in Athens in the fifth century B.C.E. The dictionary also quotes one Loren J. Samons II, who in his book What's Wrong with Democracy? writes:
Indeed, since the term demagogos explicitly denotes someone who leads or shepherds the demos, the eventual use of this word as the primary epithet for a political panderer represents a virtual reversal of its original meaning.
It seems that the relationship between the leader and the people can be a bit of a two-edged sword. In this short piece by Megan Garber for the Atlantic, she seems to have hit upon the salient point, saying:
...the key thing about demagogues, historically, is that they have been people who, by way of their very popularity, threaten the populace. They undermine the stability of a “by the people” form of government particularly by turning “the people” against each other. They represent a danger not just to electoral outcomes or political parties, but to democracy itself.
Remember?
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| Joseph McCarthy |
According to the Oxford Dictionaries a demagogue is "a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument". Which maybe sounds a bit like all politicians everywhere. Perhaps it's a matter of degree.
"Demagogue" entered English in around 1640. The Greek demagogos meant leader of the people, demos being "people" and agagos meaning "leader", according to the Online Etymology Dictionary. So it seems not to have originally been a pejorative term. But the same dictionary also mentions that the word has been used as a pejorative often since its first use in Athens in the fifth century B.C.E. The dictionary also quotes one Loren J. Samons II, who in his book What's Wrong with Democracy? writes:
Indeed, since the term demagogos explicitly denotes someone who leads or shepherds the demos, the eventual use of this word as the primary epithet for a political panderer represents a virtual reversal of its original meaning.
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| George Wallace |
It seems that the relationship between the leader and the people can be a bit of a two-edged sword. In this short piece by Megan Garber for the Atlantic, she seems to have hit upon the salient point, saying:
...the key thing about demagogues, historically, is that they have been people who, by way of their very popularity, threaten the populace. They undermine the stability of a “by the people” form of government particularly by turning “the people” against each other. They represent a danger not just to electoral outcomes or political parties, but to democracy itself.
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| Huey Long
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Posts
I perceive demagogues as the inherent problem of democracy. If you have majority votes you have always the danger of eloquent and charismatic people seducing and ill-advising the "demos" for their own benefit.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think about it the onyl cure against this is education, people who refuse to think other people´s thoughts and build their own judgement.
That 'inherent problem' is why the Founding Fathers set us up as a republic, and why the Left is so anxious to make us a true democracy.
DeleteI think you've stated it very well, Eva, although I don't think we really know how to mass educate independent thinkers.
ReplyDeleteIt surprises me who has historically had political charisma. It doesn't always have to do with physical attractiveness or charm apparently.
I don;t think the idea is to educate independent thinkers. I see what's going on in colleges - with their 'safe spaces' and draconian speech codes. Part of the reason for that is how kids have been taught in their K-12 schools
DeleteThanks for the comments here, Mike. As far as education goes, it seems like mostly the anxiety is to make sure we don't fall behind in science and technology. I'm kind of surprised at how quickly the humanities seem to have fallen away from us.
DeleteThere is a German expression for these ill-meaning demagogues: "Rattenfaenger" - rat catcher, after a tale about a man who attracted by his flute play first the rats of the German town Hameln and led them into a river and as he was not payed for this service by the citizens he attracted in the same way the youth of the town and led them away, too, never to be seen again.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, physical attractiveness may help but does not seem to be a necessary precondition. The demagogue obviously satisfies some secret need, may be self-esteem or fear of the unknown.....
We know of "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" (Robert Browning corrected the town's spelling.....) Both our countries have suffered because of demagogues.
DeleteWe know that legend in America, Eva, because it became familiar to us as children in the story of the Pied Piper.
ReplyDeleteNot that we seem to have learned anything from it...
Just saw this fitting quote: https://onsizzle.com/i/the-problem-is-not-people-being-uneducated-the-problem-is-1738128
ReplyDeleteThat's a good quote. Another is "It's not so much what you don't know, it's what you do know that ain't so" (as delivered by the philosopher (either Mark Twain or Will Rogers).
DeleteIn this country, it seems as if children are taught not to think, but to accept what's taught. Hence the strong support for 'climate change' and liberal policies.
Yes, that's very much on point, Eva.
ReplyDeleteThe founding fathers were, of course, careful to call for strong government institutions as a mutual check on and by the people.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the pictures with this post, I wonder if the current model is the first high-profile American demagogue from either coast--not, that is, from the South or the Midwest, which we coasters sometimes look down on.
Good point, Peter. And I hope the balance of power stuff will hold good, but I suspect that even safeguards are not enough in some circumstances.
ReplyDeleteI should read more about this chapter in American history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shays%27_Rebellion
ReplyDeleteYeah, me too. I really don't know more about it than its name. But there are all kinds of interesting off the main track stuff in American history that the vast majority of us don't learn about in school.
ReplyDeletePeter, off topic, but in my search to see if I could find a good book on the subject and somehow came across an article at Five Books, a website I love, by Massimo Carlotti on Italian crime fiction.
ReplyDeletehttp://fivebooks.com/interview/massimo-carlotto-italian-crime-fiction/?utm_expid=30175549-0.sAau5xAZR_uQq_U9zw1Xgw.0&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3D%26esrc%3Ds%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D1%26ved%3D0ahUKEwjg0YC5lanOAhVB54MKHWO-CRkQFggfMAA%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Ffivebooks.com%252Finterview%252Fmassimo-carlotto-italian-crime-fiction%252F%26usg%3DAFQjCNHdIiNhkh8AebkkTPccJj3rqeYR5g%26sig2%3DiZ4nPdQyXbVy-0JDcoEbGg%26bvm%3Dbv.128987424%2Cbs.1%2Cd.amc
I have no idea why that link is so long. If it doesn't work just google five books and Massimo carlotti and it will pop up.
ReplyDeleteI copied & pasted, it worked OK. If you see another long URL, you can run it through tinyurl.com. Put in the long one, the site generates a short one.
DeleteThanks for the tip. I didn't know that.
DeleteThanks. I had not heard of some of the writers Carlotto mentions.
ReplyDelete