The Role
of the Demagogue Previous | TOC | Print | Next
In periods of rapid societal transformation,
increased status is awarded to those persons most willing to excoriate
the scapegoats and expose them as evil conspirators, even though the
claims of these demagogues are fabrications. As Allport writes, "Demagogues
play up false issues to divert public attention from true issues."59 Successful
demagogues usually have great personal charisma and appear supremely
self-confident and knowledgeable...yet some demagogues can come across
as accessible and friendly. Demagogues are usually seen as fitting the
category of "The True Believer" delineated by Eric Hoffer.60 Few
dissident organizers actually fit the definition of being a demagogue,
even though centrist/extremist theory casts them in the role. That the
term and concept of demagoguery has been abused, however, does not negate
the reality of demagoguery as one style of organizing.61
Demagogues often scapegoat groups that suffer
widespread prejudice. "Not all [demagogues] select the alleged misconduct
of minority groups as their false issue--but a great many do so," observes
Allport.62 Demagogues
serve as "inspirational agitators" who mobilize a mass following
of persons "who may adopt the program [of the demagogue] for reasons
of cultural conditioning or conformity or of occupational and economic
opportunism," writes Frederick Cople Jaher in a discussion of antisemitism.63 Unpackaging
the relationships between ideological demagogic leaders and their followers,
who may be motivated by a variety of reasons, is an important step in
analyzing any populist movement that uses scapegoating. Several factors
must coalesce for demagogues to activate mass populist scapegoating.
As Robert S. Robins and Jerrold M. Post, M.D. explain:
==="The would-be leader propagating
a paranoid theme is a time of tranquillity will appeal only to a small
audience. Even in a time of stress such an appeal will fail if the
leader lacks conventional political skills. But when the politically
skillful leader or propagandist with a persuasive paranoid message
calls to an overwhelmed society, the conditions are ripe for a violent
and widespread response."64
Conspiracist demagogues create for themselves
a special status as gatekeepers to secret knowledge, a form of Gnosticism
in which they are the high priests. Demagogues uses a variety of emotionally-manipulative
propaganda tactics to convince an audience that their assertions have
merit. They frequently use standard techniques of the propagandist, and
use logical fallacies to assert connections between persons, groups,
and events that may not be related at all.65 Some
of the illogical and invalid arguments violate the historic rules of
logic including the false ideas that sequence implies causation, association
implies guilt, congruence in one aspect implies congruence in all aspects,
and that simultaneous action implies prior planning.
Conspiracists often argue their case by producing
a tremendous volume of data, then make sweeping generalizations that
imply connections that have not been logically demonstrated.66 All
conspiracist theories start with a grain of truth around which is wrapped
an attractive luminescent pearl of fiction which distracts attention
away from the irrational leaps of conclusion. "Pat Buchanan in his
1996 presidential campaign raised real issues such as the negative effects
of NAFTA," explains Holly Sklar, "but he blamed a mix of real
and false causes to suit his demagogic ends."67
Gates gives another example based on an antisemitic
book, The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews, published by the
Nation of Islam:
"[T]he book massively misrepresents
the historical record, largely through a process of cunningly selective
quotation of often reputable sources. But its authors could be confident
that few of its readers would go to the trouble of actually hunting
down the works cited. For if readers actually did so, they might discover
a rather different picture."
Conspiracist demagogues as orators portray
as wisdom what is, in essence, parlor tricks of memorization lubricated
with fallacies of logic. While this is a form of charlatanism, it is
frequently unconscious. Interviews with numerous conspiracists reveals
that even when shown that their logic is flawed, they dismiss the proof
as a trick or irrelevant.68
Demagoguery facilitates the projection required
for scapegoating. As Allport puts it:
"Demagoguery invites the externalization
of hatred and anxiety, it is an institutional aid to projection; it
justifies tabloid thinking, stereotyping, and the conviction that the
world is made up of swindlers...There is no middle ground...the ultimate
objective is vague, still the need for definiteness is met by the rule,
`Follow the Leader.'"69
Previous | TOC | Print | Next |
Magazine
