demagogue
Sign in to savethumb|José Clemente Orozco's painting The Demagogue, 1946
Article
37 sectionsContents
- History and definition of the word
- History and characteristics of demagogues
- Emotional oratory and personal charisma
- Tactics
- Scapegoating
- Fearmongering
- Lying
- Accusing opponents of weakness and disloyalty
- Promising the impossible
- Encouraging violence and using physical intimidation
- Personal insults and ridicule
- Exhibiting vulgarity and behaving outrageously
- Folksy posturing
- Making gross oversimplification
- Attacking the news media
- Actions in power
- Establishing one-man rule, subverting the rule of law
- Appointing unqualified lackeys to high office
- Ancient history
- Cleon (died 422 BC)
- Alcibiades (c.450–404 BC)
- Gaius Flaminius (c. 275–217 BC)
- Modern era
- Adolf Hitler (1889–1945)
- Huey Long (1893–1935)
- Joseph McCarthy (1908–1957)
- Donald Trump
- Narendra Modi
- Positive demagoguery
- Tactical demagoguery
- Demagoguery in constitutional office
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Sources
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|José Clemente Orozco's painting The Demagogue, 1946
A demagogue (; ; ), or rabble-rouser, is a political leader in a democracy who gains popularity by arousing the common people against elites, especially through oratory that whips up the passions of crowds, appealing to emotion by scapegoating out-groups, exaggerating dangers to stoke fears, lying for emotional effect, or other rhetoric that tends to drown out reasoned deliberation and encourage fanatical popularity. Demagogues overturn established norms of political conduct, or promise or threaten to do so.