The Power of the Liberal Narrative

As I was reading Ten Things Political Scientists Know that You Don’t, there was a particular finding of Noels that is relevant to today’s election. I think the first topic, which was called “It’s The Fundamentals, Stupid,” was the most interesting because it points out the obvious things that happen when politicians and their team try to come up with different campaigns, slogans and other stuff that will catch citizens off guard. I think that this is most important part in a campaign because this is where citizens get a first look of who you are, and decide if they will like you or not. Since Americans do not dig deep into

To begin with, by examining the audience, the readers can dive deeper into the topic and offer their input. The audience of the story is the American people and politicians. The readers can assume this because the author talks about how the

The recent election of 2016 shows that artifice is essential in winning voters. Donald Trump, throughout his campaign, displayed an image of himself that people would perceive as “tough” and “strong”. The image of Trump as a reality TV star made him more likable by Americans. Trump spoke openly to people's economic stress, cultural fears and the disillusion with politicians. He promised to “bring

When attempting to present a certain perspective to an audience, the speaker must not merely string a list of monotonous and meaningless words together and call it a speech. Rhetoric, also known as persuasive elocution, has the power to captivate an audience and is essential to any effective oration. In his 2008 Republican Convention speech, actor Fred Thompson lends his support to John McCain’s presidential campaign in order to convince American voters to do the same. Appealing to his audience’s patriotism and sense of responsibility while also discrediting the possibility of a successful Democratic nominee, Thompson delivers a memorable presentation laced with passion, light-hearted humor, and, most especially, hope for a better future lead

In the studying public opinion and political psychology, the major concern is whether citizens can form and uphold sensible attitudes and beliefs about politics. Previous studies have been skeptical about the capacities of mass public as they emphasized on the merits of basic heuristics in assisting citizens make sensible choices (Lupia 75). Milton Lodge and Charles Taber’s The Rationalizing Voter lays emphasis on the unique aspects of politics- how the masses respond to the prominent political issues and figures. Lodge and Taber focus on the ways in which the automatic affective responses define information processing and opinion updating. They argue that these sentimental responses are stored and rationalized in the long-term memory, and

What is learned as a child stays with you for the rest of your life. We have given teaches the awesome responsibility of molding our young. They take a head full of mush and fill it with facts (Limbaugh). Do we want them to impart their political agendas on our vulnerable children? I think not!!! Studies have shown that most teachers have very definite liberal leanings. They often show that bias in the classroom. If there is one thing that my mother has told me is that direct omission is a lie, and if you are going to present your liberal views then you must also present the conservative rebuttal. However, this is not what is happening is today 's schools. In fact, teachers often give lower grades for writings that do not

In his State of the Union Address for 2016, Barack Obama uses logical and ethical arguments to emphasize shared ground rather than partisan disputes. He also taps into the audience’s desire to feel better about themselves and their country. By using humor and irony, Obama paints his opponents into corners, out of which it would require outrageous extremism to effectively squirm away. At its best, this approach demonstrates how much Americans actually have in common in a culture dominated by ideologically polarized cable-news channels, Facebook, and cultural tribes that increasingly live and socialize apart from one another. The president's technique throughout the speech is to frame issues through a rhetorical jujitsu to persuade his opponents,

During the 2016 Vice-Presidential election, candidates Tim Kaine and Mike Pence use persuasive language and strategies for their arguments. Notably, both speeches measure about the same in terms of implementing pathos through the repetitive use of their hardships and their families. Pathos is a strategy used to stir up the audience’s emotions. Based on the strategic manipulation of pathos, middle-aged voters may tend to sway towards one candidate more than the other.

In this essay, I will closely examine the role of ethos, pathos, and logos as they were utilized in the 1992 Presidential Debate video clip. Throughout Clinton and Bush’s debates, they used the three options of persuasion effectively and discretely; however, it is evident that out of the three ways of persuasion, the candidates used ‘pathos’ because of the content they were providing. It was apparent that Bill Clinton was more prepared to display forms of persuasion than George H.W. Bush was because Clinton had prior experience dealing with lower income people. In the upcoming paragraphs, I will explain and analyze how each candidate made use of the three forms of persuasion: logos, pathos, and ethos.

The art of deception is an essential skill, especially in moments such as political debates and commercial promotions. In today's society, artifice is a widely utilized skill to persuade the public. The commercial market connects producers to consumers through propaganda which appeals to consumers through elements such as pathos, ethos, and logos. Utilizing these elements, the audience is immediately drawn into the viewpoint of the deceiver. Politicians tried to appear as ordinary and modest as possible to seem more appealing to their audience. But, it can be a deception. As Chris Hedges said in his Empire of Illusion, a story is the best form of artifice because the “consistency and emotional appeal of the story are paramount.” Often politicians tell stories to create a persona making themselves look more trustworthy.

In this article Eve Fairbanks summarizes the effects that Newt Gingrich’s strategy to win the elections back in 1994 had on political culture. Gingrich sent Republican colleagues a list of words to use to describe their Democratic opponents: “sick,” “pathetic,” “bizarre,” “traitors” and “corrupt” were some of the choicest. After the election it was very clear that the game of winning elections in America was all dependent on word play. Fairbank’s findings suggest that the “frame” game in politics is actually shockingly simplistic. Turning conservatives to liberals doesn't depend on a rich mix of language, leaders, circumstances, and actual accomplishments. All it takes is hitting the right keywords to put the population in a happy mood about

A Narrative Policy Framework for public policy offers insight into why policy changes can occur (Jones & McBeth, 2010), even when data is incomplete. In order to understand why policies change we must understand the stories, images, and symbols that surround an issue. Public opinion is not always changed by policy details, but is often influenced by narratives. The telling of a compelling story can be among the most important aspects of mobilizing support for a cause (Smith & Larimer,

Looking at the United States in 1965, it would seem that the future of the liberal consensus was well entrenched. The anti-war movement was in full swing, civil rights were moving forward, and Johnson's Great Society was working to alleviate the plight of the poor in America. Yet, by 1968 the liberal consensus had fallen apart, which led to the triumph of conservatism with the election of President Reagan in 1980. The question must be posed, how in the course of 15 years did liberal consensus fall apart and conservatism rise to the forefront? What were the decisive factors that caused the fracturing of what seemed to be such a powerful political force? In looking at the period from 1968 to the

In the book Empire of Illusion, by Chris Hedges, Hedges states that “The most essential skill in political theatre and consumer culture is artifice.” Hedges statement is correct, in that in order to succeed in political theatre and consumer culture one must deceive their audience. Hedges argument emphasises the importance of creating emotional appeal and intimacy with your audience even if they faux. In order to succeed in political theatre and consumer culture, it is crucial to create emotional appeal, and display that to one’s audience.

Chomsky (1997) uses, what he calls, the first modern government propaganda operation, the Creel Commission, to identify that the opinions of a population can be easily manipulated with a few well-timed messages and slogans. Woodrow Wilson was elected president using the “Peace Without Victory” platform in the middle of World War I (Chomsky,