Group Article: "The democratic king: The role of ritualized flattery in political discourse"

 Article link: The democratic king: The role of ritualized flattery in political discourse

Something really big that I noticed in the time leading up to and during Donald Trumps presidency was all the flattery. I remember how before he was elected, so many other politicians would insult him so much. But then after he became presidency, they all acted like they were his best friends and admired him like their king. It always kind of sickened me how their demeanors and opinions toward him seemed to completely turn around when he entered power and they realized they could benefit by getting closer to him.

Additionally, we saw Trump himself exercising his flattery as well... but with all the wrong people. I remember the way he would constantly insult our allies and then proceed to shake hands with dictators like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. It angered me how he could openly admit to admiring leaders who did terribly things and mistreated their country's citizens.

At the end of the day, this ritualized flattery is something that's expected in autocracies, not democracies.