The power of “small business” as pending narrative: an ideograph in UK politics 2004–2013

This paper explores utilisation of the term small business in contemporary politics in the United Kingdom. First, the policy and practice implications of the term small business are examined, through the lens of political rhetoric. Use of the term over the period from 2004 to 2013 is examined, drawing upon the DataArt Guardian NewsTraces platform as both a method of initially visualising an overall pattern of the term’s use during the 10-year period, and a medium for facilitating data collection for analysis. The research question is: how is the term “small business” used in political rhetoric in the UK, in the identification of policy problems and solutions, and the creation of pending narrative? It is determined that the term small business is an ideograph with different and often competing meanings for various interest groups, and suffers from serious imprecision despite policy efforts which strive for legitimacy. Even with spikes in use reflecting election cycles and periods of economic stress, the term’s power is in its mutable but appealing vagueness, and its enduring quality as pending narrative. This leaves open obvious questions of both policy efficacy and the sufficiency of ideographic-laced rhetoric as a substitute for meaningful policy.     

从制度修辞视角看法律信仰

法律能否被信仰?这是国内法学界近二十年来持续关注的一个重要理论争点。尽管法律信仰的理论有演化为意识形态的倾向,但法律信仰论自身是一种严谨的理论论述。法律信仰的论述理据,不应仅仅是伯尔曼所强调的法律与宗教在某种意义上的契合性或相似性,而且还在于即便完全不受宗教影响的、世俗化的法律,作为一种价值体系、传统、"事物规定性"的规范表达以及舍此无他的利益获取机制的内在禀赋。法律在实质上是基于价值、事实以及与此相关的利益的博弈结果或博弈的规范表述,是一种制度修辞。人们对一种制度修辞抱持不尽的热忱和追求,恰如人们虔信、又热忱地追求同样是一种修辞预设的上帝一样。所以,从制度修辞视角看法律信仰,饶有兴味——法律、法治本身是信仰的事业。     

Does moral rhetoric fuel or reduce divides between parties and non-copartisan voters?

Political parties at times use moral appeals to voters outside of their support base, i.e., non-copartisan voters. Yet, morality is typically considered a divisive force in politics. Does moral rhetoric actually alleviate or exacerbate divides between parties and non-copartisan voters? The paper addresses this question by focusing on non-copartisans’ attitudes towards the party. Insights from previous work on moral persuasion and attitudinal bias suggest a conflicting picture. On the one hand, moral rhetoric is likely to make morally aligned non-copartisans more favourable towards the party. On the other hand, moral rhetoric is unlikely to make even the morally aligned favourable towards the party. In fact, moral rhetoric may further push away non-copartisans with pre-existing hostility. Using original, representative survey experiments from Britain, the paper finds that moral rhetoric can increase favourable attitudes and that it does not further promote hostility. Morality in party competition does not necessarily fuel division.     

What the Secretary Said Next: ‘Public Rhetorical Leadership’ in the Australian Public Service

Every year, senior departmental secretaries in Australia deliver keynote speeches to a range of audiences. What are these secretaries talking about, and to whom are they directing their comments? This article will examine keynote addresses by the secretaries of the two key central agencies in Australia – the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and The Treasury – over the calendar years 2009 and 2010. I argue that ‘public rhetorical leadership’ by secretaries poses challenges for traditional understandings of Westminster governance. Utilising the concepts of public value theory, the significance of this ‘public rhetorical leadership’ is assessed in terms of its impacts on policy implementation and questions of accountability.     

The Absolutist Advantage: Sacred Rhetoric in Contemporary Presidential Debate

Sacred rhetoric invokes nonnegotiable convictions rather than reasoned consequences. This form of rhetoric, grounded in transcendent authority and moral outrage, provides an electoral advantage by inspiring greater political engagement and valorizing candidates in the eyes of voters. A study of the language employed in contemporary presidential debates from 1976 to 2004 illustrates that while Democrats made sacred appeals in a few political domains, Republicans employed sacred rhetoric more frequently across a broad range of issues. Democrats have relied more heavily on projected numbers and plans rather than protected values and bounds, often yielding to Republicans an absolutist advantage.     

Accounting for ideas: Bringing a knowledge economy into the picture

Abstract

Over the past 15–20 years, the margins of industrial classifications, corporate balance sheets and GDP have been altered to capture knowledge as a new category of value. This has resulted in the institutionalization of categories such as an information economy (1997), intangible assets (2001) and, most recently, a knowledge-adjusted GDP (2013) in these calculating technologies. By harnessing knowledge as a manageable and valuable object, these shifts are responding but also contributing to the concept of a knowledge economy. This paper investigates the conditions necessary to anchor these new categories of value. The analysis attends not only to the changing rules and regulations, but also to the rhetorics of visibility/invisibility, materiality/immateriality, and measurability/immeasurability used to make a case for these transformations.     

Incarnating a rhetoric of identity: Pat Robertson and the 700 Club

Abstract

The article analyses the American ‘Christian’ television talk show, the 700 Club, created by Pat Robertson. It suggests that Robertson has developed a sophisticated form of programming based on the creation of a participatory identity between the viewer, programme hosts and interviewees. This is based on the skilful combination of rhetoric and myths, understood in terms of narrative paradigms, supported by the active involvement of worldwide church-based support networks.     

Local racial context,campaign messaging,and public political behavior: A congressional campaign field experiment

Local racial contexts influence public opinion and voting behaviors. This paper argues that differences in community racial demographics also change public political behavior and influence the effectiveness of different campaign appeals to change public political behaviors of white Americans. Using data from an experiment run by a congressional primary campaign, I examine the responses of white Republicans to display a yard sign of a white Republican running against a Latino Republican. Consistent with theories of racial threat, whites in Latino neighborhoods were more likely to be willing to post yard signs. Moreover, the results also show that the effectiveness of different campaign appeals varies by neighborhood racial context. These findings show that racial diversity affects the public political behaviors of white Americans and, more importantly, changes the effectiveness of different campaign appeals.     

新修辞学理论的基本立场——以佩雷尔曼的“普泛听众”概念为中心

佩雷尔曼的新修辞学理论对法律论证理论的发展影响深远。其核心概念，即作为言说者之主观思维构造的“普泛听众”，具有一种固有而不可化解的内在紧张关系。因为它所指涉的理性概念取决于言说者所内化了的社会、语言和文化视角下的世界观要素以及所涉及的生活领域内的特殊知识兴趣。一方面，“普泛听众”的概念暗含了法律论证的不确定性和开放性，因此位于各种版本的明证和非理性立场之间；另一方面。它坚持的是一种实用主义导向的真理共识论。     

Rhetoric in municipal amalgamations: a comparative analysis

ABSTRACT

There is a large literature that seeks to evaluate municipal amalgamations ex post, but a relative dearth of scholarly inquiry into the practical political task of persuading the public to accept amalgamations ex ante. We address this important gap in the literature by conducting a rhetorical analysis to ascertain what types of arguments are believed to be efficacious for persuasion on amalgamation. We find evidence to suggest belief in the efficacy of persuading the public through recourse to various projected dreadful consequences, particularly amongst opponents of amalgamation. We conclude by considering some of the reasons behind the observed rhetorics and briefly outline one possible solution.