It is then the man or the party who seems strong and resolute enough ‘to get things done’ who exercises the greatest appeal.…” Hayek knew that it was the nature of free societies for people to become dissatisfied “with the ineffectiveness of parliamentary majorities,” so they turn to “somebody with such solid support as to inspire confidence that he can carry out whatever he wants.” Hayek then lays out the preconditions for the rise of a demagogic dictator: a dumbed-down populace, a gullible electorate, and a common enemy or group or scapegoats upon which to focus public enmity and anger.
