Populism and demagoguery are two words that have been taken over these days by public opinion in Colombia, when referring to the candidates who went to the second round that will define the future president of the country
Gustavo Petro at his campaign headquarters – Rodolfo Hernández exercising his right to vote. (Photo: Colprensa)
Ad portas of the second round of the presidential elections in Colombia, the tension and the attention on the speeches of Gustavo Petro and Rodolfo Hernández are growing. The use of the words populism and demagogy has increased indiscriminately and generating a social imaginary regarding what they mean, some have branded Petro as a populist, others Rodolfo as a demagogue and vice versa,but the academic base that refers to these terms has other different constructs.
In conversation with Infobae Colombia, the doctor in human and social sciences Juan Guillermo Zapata Ávila, coordinator of the master’s degree in Sociology at the University of Antioquia, made an outline of what these words mean and how they are applied in the discursive thread of the candidates.
Between populism and demagoguery
As explained by Dr. Zapata, when speaking of populism or demagoguery, he refers to two expressions of a specialized academic-theoretical language. Populism is an expression of political charisma, the sociologist Max Weber, for example, spoke of the fact that politicians use charisma as a way to show all their exceptional “supernatural” abilities and somehow reinforce themselves in capacities that help people meet certain needs, the politician becomes a kind of messiah or leader.
Furthermore, the expert added that populism has also, theoretically, been proposed as a form that resorts to the discourse of the people, of the community peopleand curiously, he says, those who have used that populism has been mainly right-wing men.
“Here in Colombia Gaitán was a great populist, who put in the language and in the public debate issues of the common people, so in some way a way to convince. That is, with populism popular actors are called, but it is also a way of unifying a nationalist discourse. ”, explains Zapata
So, populism starts from the charisma and complementarily calls for a people to participate, which is not only the grassroots people, but also the elites are called to unity.
“There is a more contemporary reference to populism raised by Chantal Mouffe and Ernesto Laclau, who defend populism in the sense that it is possible to create a generalized discourse for the people and for the oppressed people, but that also include in an agonistic manner those who are its adversaries, in this case sectors of the elite or the bourgeoisie”, says the academic.
The The second term to address is demagoguery.Juan Guillermo Zapata states that it is typical of Aristotle, who defined it as the art of convincing through lies, that is, a lie to convince, “which is basically the exercise of politics.”
The Colombian political terrain: Gustavo Peto and Rodolfo Hernández
Now, speaking specifically of the elections in Colombia and the two candidates who are today in the race for the power, Juan Guillermo Zapata expresses that in a very light way Petro has been called a populist: “I think he has used populism as a strategybecause it is a strategy of most of the candidates, Federico Gutiérrez was also a populist and Rodolfo Hernández has used populism a lot”, indicates the doctor in human and social sciences.
He goes on to explain: “I think that everyone uses populism as a dialogical form, as they form political language to attract diverse social sectorseither to identify with the common people, the most popular people or even to unify, I think the three fall last in that.”
Additionally, Zapata explains that Demagoguery has also been used by all the candidates, to a large extent when they say things that they cannot fulfill: “they tell lies to convince the voters.”
In conclusion, One cannot speak of populism versus demagoguery. Both have used both strategies in their speech.
“Petro, despite the fact that he has also had his own populist traits, without saying that in his general context it is populist, he has put forward more structured proposals since he began his campaign,” Zapata points out, now what has been demanded of Rodolfo Hernández is that he make proposals, “and in a rather demagogic wayI would say, since he has obtained a number of points a little lightly that we don’t know how it is going to be done”, the expert points out.
What lies ahead after analyzing the two words that label the candidates for the presidency, is that each of the voters is aware of the decision they will make at the polls and review the government programs of each candidate.