The Dark Arts: Principles of Demagoguery

A major problem today is that our body politic has not been able to mount a strong immune response when it is exposed to a high-level demagogue.  Such an event is relatively novel to our society, so adequate defenses haven’t been built up previously.  A strong and amoral demagogue can infect the population with surprising ease, with very damaging consequences.  The tactics and strategies employed by a demagogue are very effective.  Following is a list of principles of demagoguery that can be observed to be in use at present:

Rhetoric:

• Focus on ideas that can be expressed as simple, vivid slogans
  • Without distracting details or nuance
  • Easily remembered
  • With emotionally potent language and images
• Provide a consistent narrative that will stick in peoples’ minds.
• Use simple words with lots of superlatives.
• Speak and write using strong emotional affect, particularly outrage and anger.
• Hammer points home using constant repetition.
• Try out themes and see which ones get the strongest visceral reactions. Emphasize those. Eliminate those that don’t.
• Tap into audience prejudices and fears such as racism, nativism, ethnic and religious antipathies, homophobia, misogyny, etc.
• Whip up peoples’ passions.
• Brand opponents with demeaning nicknames. Regularly insult them. Say they are criminals and traitors.
• Get people to see themselves as being victimized and humiliated. Tell them that their difficulties are not their own fault, but are caused by enemies. Identify people to blame.
• Stoke feelings of grievance and resentment, particularly over declining group status and privilege.
• Target outgroups for hatred.
• Attack government in general. Portray it as a primary cause of people’s problems.
• Incite people to act out in revenge.
• Encourage the belief in dark conspiracies.
• Frame matters as conflicts, with winners and losers. Heap scorn on those you regard as losers.
• Cast everything in black and white terms. Portray it as existential good versus evil.
• Put forward authoritarian, punitive, “law and order” approaches.
• Incorporate metaphors and images of violence in your rhetoric.

Personal presentation:

• Practice “command presence”. Be intimidating. Be dominating. Present yourself as a virile alpha male.
• Act boldly.
• Use forceful arm and hand gestures when speaking. Employ facial expressions of anger. Shout for emphasis. Use obscene language.
• Display the trappings of being a winner. Live the way other people wish they could live.
  
• Be unpredictable.
• Ignore rules and laws that you apply to others.
• Don’t be overly concerned about the truth. Say whatever will give you the greatest advantage.
• Threaten violence to get your way.
• Be transgressive, including sexually.
• Demand loyalty. Do not allow people to expect it from you in return.
• Seize and keep the initiative. Always be on the attack, never on the defensive.
• Respond forcefully to any perceived slight or criticism. Hit back much harder.
• Never apologize, never show uncertainty, never admit a mistake.
• Present the image of a strongman who can accomplish things that no one else can by operating outside ordinary norms and constraints.
• Encourage followers to see you as a hero, maybe even sent by God.

General tactics:

• Capitalize on your celebrity status from the various media, particularly television.
• Focus on dramatic public spectacle, such as rock star-like mass rallies.
• Dominate the news cycle through sensational acts and statements.
• Capture and hold media attention. Be sure the spotlight stays on you so that others’ messages don’t get heard.
• Replace anyone on your team who draws attention to themselves instead of you.
• Make everyone else operate in reaction to you. Keep all focus on yourself.
• Frame the issues, control the terms of any interaction.
• Appeal to tribal identity. Make people feel it’s Us vs. Them. Have followers identify directly with you.
• Encourage people to form a cult of personality around you.
• Leverage partisanship to your greatest advantage. Be deliberately divisive.
• Insist that followers reject the legitimacy of any election you or your chosen candidates don’t win.
• Reduce people’s trust in the very principles of democratic elections.
• Say the media are the enemy of the people. Assert that anything unfavorable to you is fake news.
• Assert that laws and rules don’t apply to you.
• Ignore legal subpoenas. Demand subordinates do likewise.
• Encourage followers to think violence is likely to be necessary to put things right. Legitimize intimidation and threats. Urge people to martyr themselves for your cause.