Political Rhetoric

Rhet•o•ric (r?t'?r-?k): Noun. 1- Skill in using language effectively and persuasively. 2- Language that is elaborate, pretentious, insincere, or intellectually vacuous. For decades politicians have used their skills as orators to explain their ideas to the voters, but more often than not, these plans stall or get lost in the shifting political landscape and don’t become policy. Sometimes it’s because of roadblocks in Congress, other times it’s because the candidate fails to get the party nomination or because the idea doesn’t gain any traction with the general public. We’ll look at how rhetoric has been used over the years by politicians, how that has changed and the reasons why some plans become policy and others do not.

Guests

• Ann Atkinson, Associate Professor of Communication specializing in campaign rhetoric at Keene State College
• Mark Timney, Associate Professor of Journalism at Keene State College