A very worthwhile and timely article

from today's Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists:

"How demagogues destroy democracy: a step-by-step global guide"

Well written, nicely researched, good bibliography, and excellent food for thought. I hope that some of you find it useful...

The government ... cheats and lies with impunity; the blarney and blather aim to persuade millions of followers that they’re living the lie together, and that lies are an instrument of resistance to their misfortunes (Sadurski 2022). Talk of conspiracies, scapegoating, boastful exaggerations, clownery, and bullshit continue to be spread by media organs loyal to the demagogue.

The Great Redeemer repeats, and repeats again, that the government enjoys the backing of an authentically “sovereign People.” That’s why winning the next election means creating a new “people”—a homogenized people who (it’s said) are the true foundation of a true democracy ruled by a true leader whose strength comes from the true “People.” It is as if elections are turned upside down. It’s an Alice in Wonderland dynamic: The government votes in the people...

https://thebulletin.org/premium/2024-09/how-demagogues-destroy-democracy...

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QMS's picture

.
the govt. elects the people .. looking glass indeed
just who are these 'real' people? Conscripted converts
to an alien way of thinking. Herded into a demographic
of 'likely voters'. For convenience of the narrative.

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truth is considered foreign influence, world peace is a threat to national security

janis b's picture

Thank you for this article. I read it last night and noted some especially insightful and affirmative parts for myself.

Demagoguery is ventriloquism. Millions of disgruntled voters find the demagogue’s promises attractive.

But it’s important to understand that rule by demagogues is not based solely on repression. Demagogues have a penchant for seduction. They treat the whole world as a stage on which they play the role of heroic central characters in blustering performances designed to win over the hearts and heads of their audiences.

Meanwhile, in India, Modi has turned voting citizens into government beneficiaries (labharthis). In a country where 80 percent of the population is either rural or poor, his governments have actually spent less on education, health care, job creation schemes, and other long-term social investments—but won re-election in June, 2024, with the help of prime minister-branded deliveries of sacks of free rice and wheat, the setting-up of millions of personal bank accounts, “direct benefit transfers” of money, and promises of toilets and piped drinking water in every home.

As the transition away from democracy in the name of democracy gathers pace, something more startling happens. In the hands of the ruling party and its despot leader, the razzamatazz about “the People” has a more sinister effect: It aims to redefine who “the People” are. Desperate to tighten their grip on state power, with eyes on another election in the not-too-distant future, the demagogue and the governing party hands bread and roses to loyal followers and undecided waverers. But it also hits hard against its targeted so-called “enemies.” The government spreads uncivil language, picks political fights with its opponents, tightens border controls and builds barbed-wire fences against foreigners and so-called “foreign influences.

But democracy now resembles a fancy mask worn by wealthy political predators.

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