“Proud to be demagogues!”, the importance of demagogy in the construction of democracy

“Let’s not be eaten by politicians and their muddy demagogy”. A slogan that dates back to May 68. Since then, the populists have replaced the “demagos”. Philippe Lafargue, doctor of ancient history, author of “Proud to be demagogues! History of Athenian democracy”, is the guest of 23h de franceinfo. “It is not at all a question of praising demagoguery which is one of the evils of our democracy. The idea of ​​this book was to return to the sources of democracy and to see who these men were who ‘demagogues are called in ancient sources’he explains.

If we use the term “populist” more today than “demagogue”, Philippe Lafargue makes the distinction: “The word populist is very nebulous. There are right and left. Demagoguery is rather a process, which aims to quickly seduce an electorate and to promise everything and its opposite. In populism there is an attention to the people, criticism of a system too”he continues. “Among the old demagogues, there was a sincerity. They carried a project of deepening democracy, which is not necessarily the case with some of our politicians”emphasizes Philippe Lafargue.