Rhetorical reduplication in MTV'S rock the vote campaign

Abstract

MTVs Rock the Vote campaign was an apparently successful effort to persuade young people age 18‐24 to cast a vote in the 1992 presidential election. However, comparison with other voter enhancement campaigns of that year indicates that the primary difference between the Rock the Vote effort and other campaigns designed to increase voter turnout among young people involved differences in rhetorical form rather than in argumentative content. By examining three aspects of Rock the Vote's presentational form and the rhetorical contexts within which those functioned, the authors provide an explanatory rationale for the campaign's apparent success.