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Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons™
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Full-Text Articles in Speech and Rhetorical Studies
Constitutive Rhetoric And Partisan Polarization In The 2016 Presidential Primary Debates, Joel Reed, Mitchell S. Mckinney
Constitutive Rhetoric And Partisan Polarization In The 2016 Presidential Primary Debates, Joel Reed, Mitchell S. Mckinney
Speaker & Gavel
For decades political scientists and communication scholars have grappled with the connection between political primaries and rising polarization. Despite significant scholarly attention to the connection between primaries and polarization, little attention has been afforded to the rhetoric of polarization in primary campaigns. Through the lens of constitutive rhetoric, we investigate the intersection of primary campaigns and polarization from a rhetorical perspective. We analyze the rhetoric of the 2016 presidential primary debates to understand how candidates drew on traditional and innovative strategies of rhetorical polarization in constituting party identity. We find that establishment candidates depended on in-group affirmation and out-group subversion …
At The Intersection Of Ableism Entelechy, And Policy Debate, Alex Mcvey, Matthew Gerber
At The Intersection Of Ableism Entelechy, And Policy Debate, Alex Mcvey, Matthew Gerber
Speaker & Gavel
This article investigates the causes of ableism and inaccessibility in policy debate, and also envisions alternatives to the current conception of debate that could open doors to more participants at all levels of ability. We argue that the rhetorical theories of Kenneth Burke help to illuminate symbolic practices in debate which function to exclude disabled voices. We also forward the argument that the competitive nature of policy debate, along with its dominant discursive practices and speech codes, constitutes an example of what Kenneth Burke calls ‘entelechy’. We further argue that the entelechial nature of policy debate is at the root …