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Demagogy (also demagoguery) (Ancient Greek δημαγωγία, from δῆμος dēmos "people" and ἄγειν agein "to lead") refers to a political strategy for obtaining and gaining political power by appealing to the popular prejudices, emotions, fears and expectations of the public — typically via impassioned rhetoric and propaganda, and often using nationalist or populist themes. The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c Political power ( Imperium in Latin is a type of power held by a group in a Society which allows administration of some or all of The word prejudice refers to prejudgment making a decision before becoming aware of the relevant facts of a case or event An emotion is a mental and physiological state associated with a wide variety of feelings thoughts and behaviours Fear is an Emotional response to Threats and Danger. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific Stimulus, such as In the case of Uncertainty, expectation is what is considered the most likely to happen Rhetoric has had many definitions no simple definition can do it justice Propaganda is a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people The term nationalism can refer to an Ideology, a sentiment, a form of Culture, or a Social movement that focuses on the Nation Populism is a discourse which supports "the people" versus "the Elites " Populism may involve either a political philosophy urging social and political

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Uses and definitions

The early 20th century American social critic and humorist H. L. Mencken, known for his "definitions" of terms, defined a demagogue as "one who will preach doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots. "

Though this definition emphasizes the use of lying and falsehoods, some point out that demagogy does not require such, but that skilled demagogues often need to use only special emphasis by which an uncritical listener will be led to draw the desired conclusion themselves, seeding a belief that is self-reinforced rather than one based on fact or truth. A lie (also called prevarication) is a type of Deception in the form of an untruthful statement especially with the intention to deceive others often with the further

Demagogues may make use of logical fallacies, though persuasion may require no use of logic. A fallacy is a component of an Argument which being demonstrably flawed in its Logic or form renders the argument invalid in whole While it may not rely heavily upon outright lies, the use of half-truths, omissions, and distortions are what define demagogy — it is, in essence, giving bad-faith arguments for the purpose of political gain. A distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic of an object image sound waveform or other form of information or representation In Logic, an argument is a Set of one or more Declarative sentences (or "propositions") known as the Premises along

Another famous usage was by the aging Erich Ludendorff, who was for a time a strong supporter of the early rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff (sometimes given incorrectly as von Ludendorff) (9 April 1865–20 December 1937 was a German Army officer, Generalquartiermeister Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers After learning of Hitler's appointment as Chancellor, he expressed his disappointment to German President Paul von Hindenburg [1][2]:

"By appointing Hitler Chancellor of the Reich, you have handed over our sacred German Fatherland to one of the greatest demagogues of all time. The Head of government of Germany is called Chancellor (Kanzler Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg ( known universally as Paul von Hindenburg ( ( October 2, 1847 &ndash August 2 I prophesy to you this evil man will plunge our Reich into the abyss and will inflict immeasurable woe on our nation. Future generations will curse you in your grave for this action. "

Hitler indeed would become regarded as perhaps the epitome of a demagogue, having successfully risen to power through appeals to the ethnic and nationalistic prejudices and vanities of the German people —exploiting a political base of embittered and misled war veterans and nationalists and directing blame at minority and other convenient scapegoats ("Dolchstosslegende"). scapegoat was a Goat that was driven off into the wilderness as part of the ceremonies of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement in Judaism during the times The stab-in-the-back legend ( German:, literally "Dagger stab legend" refers to a social Myth theory popular in Germany in the period after Hitler then consolidated his power through means of fear and intimidation, and targeted killing of German political dissidents and intellectuals.

Methods

Not involving violations of logic

Apples and oranges — mixing of incomparable quantities. "Apples and oranges" refers to the Idiom "comparing apples and oranges" or "apples to oranges" which is used to indicate that two For example, "our government has increased social spending by 5 billion dollars, while the previous government increased it only by 0. 4 percent. " The latter sounds like less, but one cannot be sure without an absolute value.

Half-truth — making statements that are true only in a strict and relatively meaningless sense. A half-truth comes in several forms and is a deceptive statement, that includes some element of Truth. For example, "the opposition have accused us of cutting foreign aid, but actually our government has increased foreign aid by 500 million dollars," not mentioning that (adjusted for inflation) the allocated funds have in fact gone down.

False authority — relying on the general authority of a person who is not proficient in the discussed topic. An appeal to authority or argument by authority is a type of argument in Logic called a fallacy For example, "the professor read my book, and liked it very much," omitting the fact that it was a professor of chemistry who read a book on anthropology.

Involving violation of logic

False dilemma — assuming that there are only two possible opinions on a given topic. The Informal fallacy of false dilemma (also called false Dichotomy, the either-or fallacy, or bifurcation) involves a situation in For example, "You're either with us or against us. . . ," ignoring the possibility of a neutral position or divergence.

Demonization — identifying others as a mortal threat. Demonization is the reinterpretation of polytheistic deities as Demons by other religions generally monotheistic and Henotheistic ones Often this involves scapegoating — blaming others for one's own problems. scapegoat was a Goat that was driven off into the wilderness as part of the ceremonies of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement in Judaism during the times This is often advanced by using vague terms to identify the opposition group and then stereotyping that group. This allows the demagogue to exaggerate this group's influence and ascribe any trait to them by identifying that trait in any individual in the group. This method can be aided by constructing a false dilemma that portrays opposition groups as having a value system that is the polar opposite of one's own, as opposed to simply having different priorities. This method was incorporated by the Nazi regime to gain the general support of the public when it began to initiate its anti-Semitic policies. Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers The racial policy of Nazi Germany refers to the policies and laws implemented by Nazi Germany, asserting the superiority of the so-called " Aryan race " and

Straw man — mischaracterizing the opposing position and then arguing against the mischaracterization. A straw man argument is an Informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position

Loaded question — posing a question with an implied position that the opponent does not have. Many questions, also known as complex question, presupposition, loaded question, "trick question", or plurium interrogationum "When did you stop taking bribes?"

Arguments unrelated to a discussion

Unrelated facts — bringing unrelated facts that sound in favor of the speaker's agenda. For example, marking a vegetable or cereal product as "cholesterol free". Cholesterol is a Lipid found in the Cell membranes and transported in the Blood plasma of all Animals It is an essential component of mammalian Since cholesterol is only found in animal products, such labeling does not actually distinguish this product from similar competitors.

Emotional appeal or personal attack — attempting to bring a discussion to an emotional level. An ad hominem argument, also known as argumentum ad hominem ( Latin: "argument to the man" "argument against the man" For example, "Everyone is against me!", "Can't I be right just once?", "You're stupid!", "You are Racist!" or just the classic retort "Shut up!"

See also

References

Dictionary

demagogy

-noun

  1. demagogism
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