Surprisingly few attempts have been made at defining the term “demagoguery” with much precision, despite its frequent use as a negative epithet by politicians, their critics, historians, political sociologists and the like. Those attempts that do exist in the literature suffer from either excessive comprehensiveness or inaccuracy in particulars. These problems led historian Raymond Arsenault in 1984 to resign himself to the term’s “inherent ambiguities.”
Relatively early in the twentieth century, with “the spread of demagogical rule” in Europe uppermost in mind, sociologist Sigmund Neumann offered an exercise in defining the demagogue. His analysis asserted six fundamental qualities: he is “a man of the people,” “rises as an orator,” emphasizes “ simplification and repetition,” promotes above all else himself as leader, professes no “abstract program,” stresses “the spoken word,” and practices the “ exclusion of counter-propaganda,” that is, official censorship.
On the third point, that of simplification, Neumann was right on. But others are flawed. For instance, what politician engaged in any form of mass politics, be it democratic or fascistic, does not advertise himself as “a man of the people”? Joseph McCarthy remains probably the most quintessential demagogue in American history, yet his skills as an orator were minimal at best. And obviously the “exclusion of counter-propaganda” works as a criterion only for more fascistically oriented societies. In this, Neumann was mainly reflecting the urgent concerns of his time. In reaching too far definitionally, however, he lost all hope of precision.(James,1999)
Some twenty years later historian Reinhard Luthin in American Demagogues joined Neumann in classifying this variety of politician as “a man of the people”; to repeat, a rather unhelpful description. But Luthin accentuated more so than Neumann the demagogue as a man who “lust[ed] for power without recourse to principle.” In this qualifier Luthin was, quite simply, wrong.........
