A demagogue, or rabble-rouser, is a political leader in a democracy who gains popularity by arousing the common people against elites, especially through oratory that whips up the passions of crowds, appealing to emotion by scapegoating out-groups, exaggerating dangers to stoke fears, lying for emotional effect, or other rhetoric that tends to drown out reasoned deliberation and encourage fanatical popularity. Demagogues overturn established norms of political conduct, or promise or threaten to do so.
José Clemente Orozco's painting The Demagogue
Adolf Hitler in 1927, rehearsing his oratorical gestures; photo by Heinrich Hoffmann, Bundesarchiv
Huey Long, governor of Louisiana
Senator Joseph McCarthy, an American demagogue
Athenian democracy developed around the 6th century BC in the Greek city-state of Athens, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica. Although Athens is the most famous ancient Greek democratic city-state, it was not the only one, nor was it the first; multiple other city-states adopted similar democratic constitutions before Athens. By the late 4th century BC, as many as half of the over one thousand existing Greek cities might have been democracies. Athens practiced a political system of legislation and executive bills. Participation was open to adult, free male citizens The metics probably constituted no more than 30 percent of the total adult population.
The relief representation depicts the personified Demos being crowned by Democracy. About 276 BC. Ancient Agora Museum.
Cleisthenes
The Constitution of Athens by Aristotle that details the constitution of Classical Athens.
Bust of Pericles, marble Roman copy after a Greek original from c. 430 BC