Greek dēmagōgós contains a word for people and an element about leading them. The familiar English sense carries a critical judgement.
Demagog is a spelling variant of the same word.
Sources
- Merriam-Webster: demagogue
Noun Word History gives both components; Kids variants explicitly include demagog.
- Online Etymology Dictionary: demotic
Also built on Greek *dēmos* "people": democracy, epidemic, pandemic