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Abstract
Rhetoric has re-emerged in political analysis. We identify two broad trends in the rhetorical analysis of politics, ‘thin’ and ‘thick’. Thin conceptions view rhetoric as primarily a matter of oratory. In contrast, the proponents of Rhetorical Political Analysis have developed an emerging thick approach, in which rhetorical concepts are applied more broadly and with more depth. However, this approach is significantly limited in its influence because it does not adequately speak to other sub-disciplines in political science, in which non-rhetorical theories are preferred. This shortcoming is addressed by applying Meyer’s new philosophy of rhetoric. The approach supports methodological extension through a theory of practice, grounded in social distance. An analysis of the Greek episode of the Eurozone crisis shows how rhetoric is used by key actors for the purpose of strategic positioning, in concert with non-rhetorical means of distanciation, namely, economic and political relations.
Highlights
Rhetoric studies would benefit from a different conceptual basis so that it can operate in tandem with other political science sub-disciplines
The aim of this paper is to argue for a new thick approach to rhetorical political analysis, based in the concept of distance, as advocated by Michel Meyer
This article set out to consider the contribution of rhetoric to political analysis
Summary
The authors of Rhetorical Political Analysis have developed an emerging thick approach, in which rhetorical concepts are applied more broadly and with more depth This approach is significantly limited in its influence because it does not adequately speak to other sub-disciplines in political science, in which non-rhetorical theories are preferred. We argue that a thick theory of rhetoric must be integrated with other forms of social scientific analysis, rather than remaining separate from them This is necessary because, despite the renewed interest in rhetoric and its extension to a more in-depth analytical framework, in political science most researchers studying political language prefer to use approaches other than rhetorical ones, such as ‘political communication’, ‘discourse analysis’ or ‘narrative analysis’, for two reasons. We argue that Meyer’s theory permits us to integrate the strengths of thin and RPA theories of political rhetoric, while improving upon them
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