Populism – Pericles

Pericles with his Corinthian helmet

Populism begins with a simple, irresistible promise: power belongs to the people. Some people, more correctly, and the leader is just one among them. Populism speaks the language that the ordinary people would love to hear. An obvious and easy example that my compatriots would understand is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political style.

He appeared on the national scene famously emphasising his origins as a chaiwallah or tea-seller. “I’m a very ordinary man,” he said. And the implication was: “I don’t belong to the Lutyens elite or the Khan Market gang.” These elites and gangsters are an un-Indian group of corrupt, English-speaking, urbanites.

So Modi started with erasing or even decimating the elite past. The Central Vista was constructed to relegate Lutyens Delhi to an unsavoury history. Delhi was “decolonised.” And the country’s history was redeemed from the Mughals and other Muslim rulers.

India belongs to its people – some people, again, to be more correct. Modi became the leader of those people. Very popular leader.

The fulcrum on which this post is supposed to turn – as other posts in this series did – is Pericles of ancient Athens. Pericles was a democratically elected populist leader of Athens in the 5^th century BCE. Ancient Athens and present India have much in common, if we care to see.

Pericles was a hero for the people of Athens. He was perceived as the architect of Athenian democracy, a leader who expanded participation and deepened civic pride. Under his pontificate, Athens became a cultural and political powerhouse. Merit was honoured far above aristocratic roots.

Yet, beneath what appeared as very noble and ideal, lay a subtle danger.

Pericles understood the emotional pulse of the masses. He knew very well that democracy did not run much on reason; it thrived on persuasion, rhetoric, and the careful shaping of public sentiment. In the pretence of strengthening the people’s voice, he strengthened the tools that could sway the voice. He made people do want what he wanted.

One of Pericles’ most controversial moves was the introduction of misthophoria by which the state paid for many public services. The poor were admitted to the theatre during the Great Dionysia festival with the help of subsidies from the government. The ordinary people were given opportunity to be part of juries.

Pericles also altered the country’s physical landscape. That is one of the most effective ways of changing a nation’s identity. He initiated a massive, ambitious programme of the Acropolis meant to turn Athens into a monumental symbol of cultural and political power after the Persian Wars. He commissioned artists to build the Parthenon, Propylaea, and other structures on the hill, showcasing Athenian superiority. In present India, we have their counterparts in the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the Central Vista in Delhi, the Statue of Unity on the Narmada, and the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor in Varanasi.

Pericles redefined citizenship in Athens. He introduced a law that restricted Athenian citizenship to those whose both parents were Athenians. Pericles knew how to secure the loyalty of the ‘in-group’ by giving them certain privileges over the out-groups. He created a division between “pure” Athenians and the impure ones.

Pericles had his own version of Mann ki Baat. He addressed the citizens regularly from the amphitheatre and he was a great orator who could keep his listeners spellbound for hours. He didn’t just debate policy; he shared his vision for the Athenian character. He also constantly contrasted the “Free Athenian” with the “Autocratic Persian” or the “Dull Spartan.” He convinced his people that to be an Athenian was not just a legal status, but a superior way of being human.

Populism relies on the idea that there is a fundamental clash between two groups in the country. And one group is always privileged by consensus because it is a democratic system. This is the most painful paradox of populism. It does not destroy democracy from the outside. It thrives on the idea that the majority is always right, that heterogeneity is a conspiracy, and that dissent is betrayal. In doing so, it reduces governance to performance and leadership to applause. 

In simple words, populism flatters the select people. It simplifies everything by dividing the ‘world’ into ‘us’ and ‘them.’ In that division, it quietly erodes the very institutions that make democracy meaningful: deliberation, restraint, and accountability.

It would be unfair on my part to end this without asserting that Pericles was not a populist in the crude sense. I mean, he wasn’t half as bad as today’s populist leaders. He did not merely chase approval; he led public opinion. But the system he helped shape carried within it the seeds of populism: the elevation of mass sentiment as the ultimate authority.

How could Pericles save himself and his nation?

He should have recognised that democracy required more than numbers. It requires judgment, patience, and the courage to resist the crowd when necessary. Populism offers the comfort of certainty. Democracy demands the discipline of doubt.

When leadership yields to popular impulse, democracy begins to erode from within. It is not the voice of the masses that sustains a nation, but the wisdom to guide that voice towards what is just, enduring, and true.

PS. This post is a part of Blogchatter A2Z Challenge 2026

Previous Posts in this series

Authority	Bigotry	Courage
Dissent	Empathy	Faith
Gaslighting	Hero Worship	Integrity
Joker	Kafka in His Labyrinth	Loyalty vs Conscience
Majoritarianism	Negative Capability	Outrage Culture

 

On Monday: Quixotism – P B Shelley