Language and politics, politics and language: democracy and demagoguery

This chapter discusses the main underpinnings of the relationship between politics and language which derive from the central assumption that politics and language are evolutionarily linked, and that to fully understand the nature of human politics we need to understand the role of language use. Its main focus is on demagoguery – a phenomenon and conceptual category exhibiting a combination of features that emerge as particularly relevant to the present political and communicational environment. In the modern context, demagoguery thrives on the expanded system of public communication and the networks of social media that are easily manipulated because of their potential for echo-chamber reverberation and amplification. Demagogues exploit this potential, along with classic charisma-constructing tricks, and the clever manipulation of epistemic states and truth. The key claim of the chapter is that analysts need a category demagoguery that is defined, can be refined and can be used as a tool of political analysis. Such a category cannot yet be separated from the demagogue’s manipulation of language. The focus of the chapter is thus twofold - first, it looks at demagoguery in the socio-political context of democratic polity, and secondly, it outlines relevant analytical tools taken from the discipline of linguistics.