Political Rhetoric 2023-2024 Jolien Janssens
Political Rhetoric
Lecture 1: Introduction (02/10/2023)
The importance of political rhetoric
No politics without persuasion
Reason: uncertainty
Persuasion by speech vs. persuasion by force
o Persuasion is “a symbolic process in which communicators try to convince other people
to change their own attitudes or behaviors regarding an issue through the transmission
of a message in an atmosphere of free choice” (Perloff, 2020, p. 24)
Accepting and believing the message
o ”Democracy . . . is distinguished as a form of governance by the extent of persuasion
relative to coercion” (Mutz, Sniderman & Brody, 1996)
More powerful than persuasion by force
Verbally convincing
The fundamental political skill?
o = persuasion, art of persuasion/convincing someone
What is rhetoric?
Greek ‘retoriketekhne’
o Rhetor = speaker
o Tekhne = art
o = art of speaking
Persuading others through speech
Studying rhetoric = learning the practical skills of persuasion
Studying rhetoric = studying the persuasiveness of speech
Not limited to spoken word (oratory)
o Written word
o Visuals
Facial expressions, way you behave …
Political rhetoric
Many areas of rhetorical studies
o E.g. law, organization studies, marketing,…
o Court is the place were rhetoric matters
Persuasion in the political realm
Not limited to politicians!
o Steven van Gucht : scientist
o Sinéad O’Connor : singer-songwriter, activist as a singer, statement against abuse in the
catholic church
o Emma Watson : gender rights
o Red Devils : colored shirts to support gay movement
o Journalists Fox News
,Political Rhetoric 2023-2024 Jolien Janssens
“What makes a political speech persuasive (or not)?”
Warm-up exercise
“Most famous persuasive speech in history”
Martin Luther King – I have a dream
o Activist leader of civil rights movement
o August 1963
o March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
Better right for black people
o 100 years after Emancipation Proclamation (Lincoln)
“Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand
today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.”
Score years = 20 years
o Video with subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yOBncaiito
o Transcript: https://www.npr.org/2010/01/18/122701268/i-have-a-dream-speech-in-its-
entirety
Task:
1. Do you find the speech persuasive?
2. Write down as many elements as possible which you think make the speech persuasive.
o rhetorical figures; repetitions, metaphors…
o symbolic meaning
o he talks about his four children, this makes him in the position to make his claim
o references to children are emotional
o way he speaks, almost seems to sing is, like rhymes
o he pauses, doesn’t go fast, message can resonate a bit before he goes on
o patriotic, links up with Americans in general, doesn’t want to distinguish himself, but he
tries to link up with broader American values
o positive feelings more dominant in the speech than the negative
o symbolic place, whole atmosphere
o addresses all different parts of the audience
Possible elements:
o Credibility as a person
Who he is
Displaying eloquence, expertise, reason
Doesn’t want things to get violent
o Arousal of emotion (metaphors)
o Convincing arguments
o Use of rhetorical devices
E.g. repetitions
E.g. allusions
E.g. rhyme
How he speaks
,Political Rhetoric 2023-2024 Jolien Janssens
…
“We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not
allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.”
No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and
righteousness like a mighty stream.
o Emotion
We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain
lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.
A diverse research field?
Different backgrounds, different questions
o Linguistics (e.g. rhetorical figures)
o Psychology (e.g. emotions vs. the cognitive)
o Political science (e.g. questions of power)
o Communication science (e.g. mass media)
Each with their own terminology & research methods
Difficulty: they don’t always talk to each other
This course: eclectic approach
Is rhetoric a bad/dangerous thing?
Rhetoric, a contested notion
Words often associated with rhetoric: “mere”; “empty”
o Rhetoric is contrasted with reality
Reality does not match with thoughts of big companies
Association with danger
o Can people be persuaded of anything? (violence, misinformation)
Negative connotation
At the same time: no democracy without free speech?
o Basic of free speech, debate is the very foundation of democracy
Rhetoric was central to ancient democracy
Greece, 500 BC
From aristocracy to democracy
o Demos = people
o Ekklesia = assembly
o All the people involved
Highly participatory system
o Status of being citizen comes with obligations
Rhetorical skills were important
o Mostly oral
Teachers: sophists
o Sophos = wisdom
o E.g. Gorgias, Protagoras
Culture of oral transmission
, Political Rhetoric 2023-2024 Jolien Janssens
Different views of classical thinkers
Plato
Rhetoric is empty and dangerous
o Can do bad instead of good (death of his mentor Socrates)
Socrates zette jongeren aan tot nadenken en hiervoor is hij tot dood
veroordeeld, dus Plato (zijn leerling) geen voorstander meer en zegt dat dit
gevaarlijk kan zijn
o It can persuade most people of anything; a ‘rudderless boat’; “sophistries”
If you don’t know the truth, than rhetoric can be used to convince anyone of
anything, even things that are not true at all
Belief in one moral “truth”
o Allegory of the cave
There is one moral truth, but not many people can see it, only few smart people
are capable to go out of the cave
o Only a small elite can see it
“The Republic”
o Society should be based on reason
o Strict division: philosopher-kings; guardians and traders
Ideas were later criticized (e.g. Popper)
o Only few people can see the truth… ??
More sympathetic reading: argument for alternative type of rhetoric (dialectic)
o Cf. technocracy today
o Together looking for the truth instead of convincing each other
Aristotle
Student of Plato
More positive reading of rhetoric
o Man is a ‘political animal’
We can communicate, decide together, we live in a community
o ‘Good life’ is life in accordance with community (vs. Plato: natural state)
Rhetoric complements philosophical reasoning
o How should the best case be put, given the argument, evidence, audience?
o Best case is not always clear
“The art of rhetoric”
o Different figures of speech
Disclaimer: exclusive notion of ‘citizen’
o Cf. importance of ‘enthymeme’ (vs. syllogism)
Cut steps of the argument, because your public is already convinced partly =
enthymeme
o Degree of permitted disagreement is limited
o Slaves couldn’t argument
Cicero
Great orator of the Roman world
Political Rhetoric
Lecture 1: Introduction (02/10/2023)
The importance of political rhetoric
No politics without persuasion
Reason: uncertainty
Persuasion by speech vs. persuasion by force
o Persuasion is “a symbolic process in which communicators try to convince other people
to change their own attitudes or behaviors regarding an issue through the transmission
of a message in an atmosphere of free choice” (Perloff, 2020, p. 24)
Accepting and believing the message
o ”Democracy . . . is distinguished as a form of governance by the extent of persuasion
relative to coercion” (Mutz, Sniderman & Brody, 1996)
More powerful than persuasion by force
Verbally convincing
The fundamental political skill?
o = persuasion, art of persuasion/convincing someone
What is rhetoric?
Greek ‘retoriketekhne’
o Rhetor = speaker
o Tekhne = art
o = art of speaking
Persuading others through speech
Studying rhetoric = learning the practical skills of persuasion
Studying rhetoric = studying the persuasiveness of speech
Not limited to spoken word (oratory)
o Written word
o Visuals
Facial expressions, way you behave …
Political rhetoric
Many areas of rhetorical studies
o E.g. law, organization studies, marketing,…
o Court is the place were rhetoric matters
Persuasion in the political realm
Not limited to politicians!
o Steven van Gucht : scientist
o Sinéad O’Connor : singer-songwriter, activist as a singer, statement against abuse in the
catholic church
o Emma Watson : gender rights
o Red Devils : colored shirts to support gay movement
o Journalists Fox News
,Political Rhetoric 2023-2024 Jolien Janssens
“What makes a political speech persuasive (or not)?”
Warm-up exercise
“Most famous persuasive speech in history”
Martin Luther King – I have a dream
o Activist leader of civil rights movement
o August 1963
o March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
Better right for black people
o 100 years after Emancipation Proclamation (Lincoln)
“Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand
today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.”
Score years = 20 years
o Video with subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yOBncaiito
o Transcript: https://www.npr.org/2010/01/18/122701268/i-have-a-dream-speech-in-its-
entirety
Task:
1. Do you find the speech persuasive?
2. Write down as many elements as possible which you think make the speech persuasive.
o rhetorical figures; repetitions, metaphors…
o symbolic meaning
o he talks about his four children, this makes him in the position to make his claim
o references to children are emotional
o way he speaks, almost seems to sing is, like rhymes
o he pauses, doesn’t go fast, message can resonate a bit before he goes on
o patriotic, links up with Americans in general, doesn’t want to distinguish himself, but he
tries to link up with broader American values
o positive feelings more dominant in the speech than the negative
o symbolic place, whole atmosphere
o addresses all different parts of the audience
Possible elements:
o Credibility as a person
Who he is
Displaying eloquence, expertise, reason
Doesn’t want things to get violent
o Arousal of emotion (metaphors)
o Convincing arguments
o Use of rhetorical devices
E.g. repetitions
E.g. allusions
E.g. rhyme
How he speaks
,Political Rhetoric 2023-2024 Jolien Janssens
…
“We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not
allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.”
No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and
righteousness like a mighty stream.
o Emotion
We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain
lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.
A diverse research field?
Different backgrounds, different questions
o Linguistics (e.g. rhetorical figures)
o Psychology (e.g. emotions vs. the cognitive)
o Political science (e.g. questions of power)
o Communication science (e.g. mass media)
Each with their own terminology & research methods
Difficulty: they don’t always talk to each other
This course: eclectic approach
Is rhetoric a bad/dangerous thing?
Rhetoric, a contested notion
Words often associated with rhetoric: “mere”; “empty”
o Rhetoric is contrasted with reality
Reality does not match with thoughts of big companies
Association with danger
o Can people be persuaded of anything? (violence, misinformation)
Negative connotation
At the same time: no democracy without free speech?
o Basic of free speech, debate is the very foundation of democracy
Rhetoric was central to ancient democracy
Greece, 500 BC
From aristocracy to democracy
o Demos = people
o Ekklesia = assembly
o All the people involved
Highly participatory system
o Status of being citizen comes with obligations
Rhetorical skills were important
o Mostly oral
Teachers: sophists
o Sophos = wisdom
o E.g. Gorgias, Protagoras
Culture of oral transmission
, Political Rhetoric 2023-2024 Jolien Janssens
Different views of classical thinkers
Plato
Rhetoric is empty and dangerous
o Can do bad instead of good (death of his mentor Socrates)
Socrates zette jongeren aan tot nadenken en hiervoor is hij tot dood
veroordeeld, dus Plato (zijn leerling) geen voorstander meer en zegt dat dit
gevaarlijk kan zijn
o It can persuade most people of anything; a ‘rudderless boat’; “sophistries”
If you don’t know the truth, than rhetoric can be used to convince anyone of
anything, even things that are not true at all
Belief in one moral “truth”
o Allegory of the cave
There is one moral truth, but not many people can see it, only few smart people
are capable to go out of the cave
o Only a small elite can see it
“The Republic”
o Society should be based on reason
o Strict division: philosopher-kings; guardians and traders
Ideas were later criticized (e.g. Popper)
o Only few people can see the truth… ??
More sympathetic reading: argument for alternative type of rhetoric (dialectic)
o Cf. technocracy today
o Together looking for the truth instead of convincing each other
Aristotle
Student of Plato
More positive reading of rhetoric
o Man is a ‘political animal’
We can communicate, decide together, we live in a community
o ‘Good life’ is life in accordance with community (vs. Plato: natural state)
Rhetoric complements philosophical reasoning
o How should the best case be put, given the argument, evidence, audience?
o Best case is not always clear
“The art of rhetoric”
o Different figures of speech
Disclaimer: exclusive notion of ‘citizen’
o Cf. importance of ‘enthymeme’ (vs. syllogism)
Cut steps of the argument, because your public is already convinced partly =
enthymeme
o Degree of permitted disagreement is limited
o Slaves couldn’t argument
Cicero
Great orator of the Roman world
