This chapter examines the concept of the political through the works of Hannah Arendt and Sheldon S. Wolin. Both thinkers considered it essential to give meaning to the political within political theory, aiming also to foster the democratic transformation of the politeia. In recent years, the rise of populisms has been shaped by a different notion of the political, originally formulated by Carl Schmitt. This Schmittian framework has been adopted by left-wing populist theorists such as Chantal Mouffe and Ernesto Laclau. A critical perspective on this approach will be presented here, drawing on insights developed in previous chapters concerning rhetoric and its nemesis, propaganda. The chapter will then turn to Arendt’s notion of power, outlining her alternative theoretical foundations for the political, which would later be acknowledged, and at times challenged, by Wolin. Particular attention will be given to Arendt’s defense of the primacy of the political as an antidote to elite domination, and to Wolin’s complementary view, articulated through concepts such as fugitive democracy and politicalness. The chapter concludes with a coda. It brings together the contrapuntal perspective explored throughout these pages, offering a final theoretical proposal on the role of rhetoric in addressing the democratic crisis of our time.