Racialized scapegoating wins elections by replacing the democratic with the demotic

Evidence

In troubled times of economic depression, rising un employment, manifest social conflict, and widespread anxiety, this heady mixture—replete with a newly respectable form of racialized scapegoating of the “enemies within”—has now repeatedly proved a great success at the ballot box, its greatest achievement the rhetorical sleight of hand in which the demotic replaces the democratic. — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 975

Categorization

• CANDY: The ‘demotic replaces the democratic’ phrase is a punchy, tweetable summary of populism’s rhetorical trick.
• XREF: Connects to the reader’s article ‘Complaints About Immodesty Go Way Back’ theme of class/identity signaling as political mobilization.