The People: A Brief History of Power and Populism from Antiquity to Today, (Hardcover)

<p>Who are "the people," and how have they shaped the rise and fall of governments? This exhilarating journey from the ancient Athenian assemblies to today's algorithm-driven mobs unpacks how rulers, revolutionaries, and demagogues have harnessed the power of the crowd for democracy and destruction.</p><p>Since the dawn of politics, leaders have claimed to speak for "the people"--some leading revolutions in their name, others crushing them under the same banner. Through gripping case studies--Cleon's Athens, the Gracchi brothers' Rome, Luther's Reformation, Bolívar, Perón, Trump, Bolsonaro, and Modi--this volume reveals striking patterns to this elusive concept across centuries. Informed by the author's firsthand experience of national security governance in Mexico, <i>The People</i>'s core intervention is a sharp analytical separation between "populism" and "the popular," reframing populism as a cultural and emotional phenomenon rather than solely a political strategy.</p><p>Designed for undergraduate and postgraduate students, scholars, and informed general readers interested in history, political science, and sociology, <i>The People</i> offers both a fresh perspective on the past and a warning for the future.</p>

• The People: A Brief History of Power and Populism from Antiquity to Today, (Hardcover)
• Author: Juan de Dios Vázquez
• ISBN: 9781041310587
• Format: Hardcover
• Publication Date: 2026-09-08
• Page Count: 312