Intro for Essay 2

When it comes to demagoguery, we typically think of people such as Hitler or Stalin. But what we don’t notice as easily is the practices of demagoguery on a much smaller scale. Patricia Roberts-Miller, author of the article “Democracy, Demagoguery, and Critical Rhetoric”, analyzes what the works of demagoguery is, it’s negative and positive affects, and how it is used to persuade an audience. Her analysis on demagoguery can be used to find fallacies amongst other writer’s works, for example, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, Wayne Lapierre’s speech on Newtown Tragedy. Within Lapierre’s article, he attempts to persuade the public, and congress that our country needs armed guards in every school in America to prevent more school shootings. In doing so, Lapierre uses demagogic fallacies: scapegoating and demonization. His demagogic appeal reaches out to those that it would affect the most, such as parents and teachers, for support on the issue. Lapierre does not think rationally about the issue and wants to act immediately on it. Within this paper, I will analyze Lapierre’s text with respect to Roberts-Miller’s article on demagoguery.