Demagoguery is common in politicians.
The first thing we are going to do is make clear the etymological origin of the word demagoguery that concerns us now. By doing so we will discover that it emanates from Greek, because it is made up of two words from that language: demos , which can be translated as "people", and ago , which is a verb that acts as a synonym for "lead". Hence, our term can be defined as "guiding the people."
Demagoguery is a political practice that appeals to the feelings and emotions of the population to gain their support. Through rhetoric , the demagogue seeks to encourage people's passions, desires or fears to achieve popular favor.
For example: “This country has already suffered many years of demagoguery,” “I would tell the governor to put demagoguery aside and start solving people's problems,” “If you want to get a favor from the boss, you have to give yourself up.” to demagoguery and flatter all their decisions.”
Analysis of demagoguery
The first historical figure considered to have used the term demagogy was none other than the great philosopher Aristotle . Specifically, he used that word to refer to the way full of corruption that had led to the establishment of the Republic. And he was clear that, in no way, he agreed with it as a form of government because he considered that rulers ultimately fell into abuses of power over the people.
Many analysts consider demagoguery to be a degeneration of democracy . Certain rulers who come to power through free elections (and who, therefore, were elected by the majority of the population) do so through concessions and flattery of the voters' basic feelings.
In that sense, the demagogue candidate does not impose himself because of his political program or his proposals, but is elected because he manages to encourage some type of feeling in people. This choice, therefore, is not rational.
Ultimately, demagoguery makes it possible to attract the decisions of others towards one's own interests through the use of fallacies or lies . The manipulation of information, data out of context and false dichotomies are also part of demagoguery.
Artists sometimes also engage in demagoguery.
Classification according to type
No less important is to emphasize that there are various types of demagoguery. Thus, this can be carried out not only through the manipulation of the meaning given to a manifestation but also through fallacies or omissions .
Likewise, also within this endless list of types of demagoguery would be the false dilemma , the confusion , the demonization or the intentional use of a series of data that come to support what is being exposed but that are out of context and, therefore, , they do not show reality as it is.
It is important to establish that in everyday language it is common to confuse demagogy with populism . It should be noted, on the other hand, that demagoguery does not only appear in politics . When a foreign artist arrives in a country and claims that local viewers constitute the best audience in the world, he is falling into demagoguery.