Ayush Chaurasia - Week 9 - The Role of Language in Politics
With the 2024 presidential election coming up, dozens of candidates are holding debates and posting advertisements for their campaigns—naturally, these politicians use very specific rhetoric in order to maximize the effect their words have on the American public. Politicians need voters to remember them, and even more importantly, they need people to agree with their ideas for the country.
As I have learned more about rhetorical analysis and the different types of appeals in this English course, I have been able to recognize some interesting patterns within the rhetoric of some presidential candidates. One particularly interesting theme is that many successful politicians in America depend not on facts or authority in their speeches, but on passion and nationalism. As a research paper on political rhetoric mentions, the success of these politicians may be of concern to a truly democratic system since it could inhibit cooperation between citizens (although the paper studies political rhetoric from the UK, many of the themes of the paper stand true in the US, too). Regardless of these issues, emotional speech seems to flourish in the American political scene. This raises the question—how do politicians use these emotional speeches to foster public support for themselves?
At first, this seems like a difficult question, but the answer becomes clearer when approaching the question from a different perspective. Instead of painting themselves in a good light, politicians often portray their opposition negatively. Mental health experts consider fear and anger to be some of the strongest emotions that humans experience because they have strong influences on the way people behave, and this is definitely something that politicians take advantage of.
One of the most relevant examples of this is Donald Trump, a one-term president running for his second term this year. He has amassed a massive public following for his vividly persuasive speeches, oftentimes ridiculing his competitors. His campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again” is a reflection of his attacks on those who have, in his opinion, made America not “Great” in its current state.
Sometimes, world events align such that American leaders are able to clearly define and condemn their opposition, an approach that is often better-received by the public. This is because American leaders generally have to focus much of their influence to ensure that the opposing party does not win elections; however, in the face of larger international conflicts, the two parties are able to combine forces against a greater enemy, leading to public unity. By using advertisements and influencing the public perception of who the “enemy” is—such as when President George W. Bush called for a war on terrorism following the 9/11 attacks—politicians can ensure that the public rallies with them and not against them.
Thus, language in politics is not only important in the context of the debates that decide elections, but also in how American leaders exert control over the population.
 |
| https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/george-bush-torture-report.jpg |
Hi Ayush! I like how informative your blog is. Your decision to mention how you were able to apply the information you learned about rhetorical devices to real life was a nice touch to demonstrate how learning these concepts have useful application in real life. I also think it’s great that you mentioned multiple sources to back up the claims in your blog. Additionally, providing a real example of how “politicians often portray their opposition negatively” by referencing the nature of Donald Trump’s speeches was an effective way to prove your claim. I like how you transitioned to describing the way powerful speaking is used by politicians to “condemn their opposition” referring to their opposing political party to describing how the parties are able to join together as well against a common enemy.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteHi Ayush! Thank you for sharing this interesting topic. Yesterday night, I saw some info on my news feed about the New Hampshire Presidential Primary and Donald Trump's victory in the state. I noticed that there was a lot of discussion about his victory speech. This is one example of why political speeches are so important; in the United States, it is very common for a candidate to win on their personality and image rather than their policies or previous track records. Identifying that candidates for political offices always have a specific intention with their speeches will allow voters to make a more informed decision.
I appreciated that you linked the source about rhetoric in political speeches. I enjoyed reading the link and thought it would be a good way to introduce additional information into your blog. As it becomes apparent, the election in 2024 will be interesting, and it will be a difficult and onerous task to really understand and dissect the plethora of speeches that are to come in the weeks and months ahead.
Taking a step back from politics, I believe that this is a general theme throughout our society. Recently, I learned that many people that work in marketing hold a college degree in Psychology. This goes hand in hand with what you mentioned about politicians leveraging our tendency to understand fear. As we continue to make more and more decisions, it is important to consider the purpose behind a message to ensure that we are making informed and sound decisions. Thanks for sharing!