--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Politicians always think they know what…" description: "\"Politicians always think they know what people feel. It's a fallacy, because there is no such thing as 'the people.' It is a discursive device for summ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aaf/stuart-hall-17324_always_politicians-always-think-they-know-what_2876292.jpg" --- # Politicians always think they know what people feel. It's… ![“Politicians always think they know what people feel. It's a fallacy, because there is no such thing as 'the people.' It is a discursive device for summoning the people that you want. You're constructing the people, you're not reflecting the people.” quote by Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aaf/stuart-hall-17324_always_politicians-always-think-they-know-what_2876292.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aaf/stuart-hall-17324_always_politicians-always-think-they-know-what_2876292.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aaf/stuart-hall-17324_always_politicians-always-think-they-know-what_2876292.jpg) > “Politicians always think they know what people feel. It's a fallacy, because there is no such thing as 'the people.' It is a discursive device for summoning the people that you want. You're constructing the people, you're not reflecting the people.” [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People are not a monolithic entity; politicians fabricate a collective identity to legitimize power, ignoring diverse individual experiences. **In simple terms:** Politicians create a false "people" to control narratives. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about collective identity. Themes politics identity power media representation Mood critical analytical Type theoretical political When to use this quote - election campaigns - policy debates - public speeches - media analysis Key Concepts social construction discourse legitimacy Questions to Reflect On - Who defines "the people" in your community? - How does this construction affect marginalized groups? A Different Perspective Oversimplifies complex societies into a single voice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Politicians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politicians/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) ## Related quotes > [I am not a politics wonk. 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Statesmen think about the next generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-lingle/politicians-all-too-often-think-about-the-next-election-statesmen/) [Linda Lingle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-lingle/) > [Drons change the way politicians think about war. You already have society's barriers against war dropping, and now you have a technology that takes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-w-singer/drons-change-the-way-politicians-think-about-war-you-already-have/) [P. W. Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-w-singer/) > [“Politicians think the only way out of a hole is to keep digging.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/politicians-think-the-only-way-out-of-a-hole-is-to-keep-digging/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [We animals live life in all its glorious uncertainty. Why do politicians think they can control events?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-mae-brown/we-animals-live-life-in-all-its-glorious-uncertainty-why-do/) [Rita Mae Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-mae-brown/) ## More by Stuart Hall > [My family belonged to a very particular formation - middle-class and coloured, not black. That meant it had a closer connection to the plantocracy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hall/my-family-belonged-to-a-very-particular-formation-middle-class-and/) [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) > [I would say that New Labour come closer to institutionalising neoliberalism as a social and political form than Thatcher did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hall/i-would-say-that-new-labour-come-closer-to-institutionalising/) [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) > [People have to have a language to speak about where they are and what other possible futures are available to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hall/people-have-to-have-a-language-to-speak-about-where-they-are-and-what/) [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) > [The very notion of Great Britain's 'greatness' is bound up with empire. Euro-scepticism and Little Englander nationalism could hardly survive if people understood whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hall/the-very-notion-of-great-britain-s-greatness-is-bound-up-with-empire/) [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) > [“In practice, race was a sliding signifier in Jamaica. 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I was aware that I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hall/i-have-a-funny-relationship-to-the-british-working-class-movement-i-m/) [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) [Explore all 37 Stuart Hall quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) ## More Always quotes > [I think performing has pretty much always been a part of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isa-briones/i-think-performing-has-pretty-much-always-been-a-part-of-me/) [Isa Briones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isa-briones/) > [I always thought if I was born 2000 years earlier, I would be a monk, probably carving a monastery or some giant pantheon buildings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenova-chen/i-always-thought-if-i-was-born-2000-years-earlier-i-would-be-a-monk/) [Jenova Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenova-chen/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [It's always great to see old friends, especially those I have not been able to see in 15 months.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-regal/it-s-always-great-to-see-old-friends-especially-those-i-have-not-been/) [William Regal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-regal/) > [When you step out and do a song in a musical, the easier thing to do is make it funny. 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He's been in contact with humans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-muschietti/mythology-is-something-that-always-has-opportunities-to-explore-it/) [Andy Muschietti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-muschietti/) > [It's not writing in the traditional sense, but I've always said that the writing process continues on the set and even into the editing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-weide/it-s-not-writing-in-the-traditional-sense-but-i-ve-always-said-that/) [Robert B. Weide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-weide/) > [I always watch my matches back 100 times afterwards because that's how I improve. This is something I've always done, even in NXT.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-rose/i-always-watch-my-matches-back-100-times-afterwards-because-that-s/) [Mandy Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-rose/) > [I've always been of the idea that is doesn't really matter where you are geographically - with 'Lonerism,' we made half the album in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-parker/i-ve-always-been-of-the-idea-that-is-doesn-t-really-matter-where-you/) [Kevin Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-parker/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [Whether it was Little League or playing with your brothers or sisters, that was always a problem. 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