Rhetoric In Politics

How is the study of rhetoric helpful in making sense of politics?

The term politics is generally being understood as state politics such as legislators, bureaucrat and government departments. ‘Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them’ (Paul Valery, Fr. Poet). Paul Hirst suggests that politics exists where there’s a plurality of actors, with different ways of calculating their interests, and the possibility of conflict. This essay will explain how is the study of rhetoric helpful in making sense of politics by defining at the terms politics, power relations, rhetoric and I will use Kevin Rudd’s apology speech to illustrate it.

Politics is the set of activities and relations that are continually negotiated between social actors who are able to exercise varying degrees and forms of power. It is about power relations; it involves conflict and argument. In order to understand the approach of argument, we need to first understand what is rhetoric. However, Dean argues in the book of Governing Societies: Political Perspectives on Domestics and International Rule that political governing in contemporary societies is best understood as matters of confrontation, struggle and resistance. According to Dean, politics is about the overall set of relations between State and non-State player. (Dean 2007)

Foucault’s thinking of power is different from the general view. He suggests that power is not an ability that a person can have; rather, power is something exercised within interactions. Power runs through relationships, or networks of relationships. Foucault suggests that a power relationship is a relationship between any actors who seek to affect each other. He states t...

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...o make them your sincerity.

Kevin Rudd made the apology speech to all Aborigines and the Stolen Generations in 2008 immediately after he became the Prime Minister. It was a deliberative speech because it was well planned and with intentions. The speech is pathos because it was carried out with an awareness of counter-opinions. The word ‘sorry’ was being used three times in Rudd’s speech (News.com.au 2008). According to Rudd, he says the apology is being made to "remove a great stain on the soul of the nation (ABC News 2008). However, it is also because he wanted to prove to the public that their approach is different from the old government. His speech was to counter that what Howard government did in the past is wrong. By carrying out the speech, he presented himself as a person with integrity and had established a good image, reputation to the Australian public.