In person icon Strategic Rhetorical Devices and Practices for Democracy and Authoritarianism

Abstract

Within political psychology, the study of the psychology of politics and the role of human beings in politics, political leadership is a major research area. Scholars in political science and international studies consider the political and institutional context as predominantly important for developments of war and peace, and for support for democracy. Over the years, nevertheless, political leadership and various aspects that include personality, cognition, rhetoric and style of elites, received more attention. Methods in political psychology to assess personality include psychobiography (Post) and psycho-diagnostic meta-analysis (Immelman). Motive imagery (Winter), the Cognitive manager model (Suedfeld), and Metaphor Power Index (De Landtsheer) focus on cognitive variables and rhetoric for identifying leadership style. US scholars, who, during World War II, made an accurate personality profile at a distance of Adolf Hitler, emphasized the social importance of “assessment at a distance”. Scholars in political psychology are using personality and rhetoric of politicians to explain their popularity during elections, and their effectivity in situations of crisis, transition or concentration of power in society. This panel will discuss strategic rhetorical devices and practices for democracy and authoritarianism. Christ’l De Landtsheer, in her introductory presentation, explores the challenges for researchers in political psychology to identify personality characteristics and rhetorical strategies in political leaders that may reveal democratic or authoritarian tendencies. Language used in the public sphere, elites’ rhetoric and personality can be significant indicators of threats and incentives to democracy and democratization. In this panel, Peter Bull analyzes the role of PMQs (Prime Minister’s Questions) in the overthrow of Boris Johnson. Richard Anderson, in his paper, understates the significant role of academic elites, as he demonstrates how in survey questionnaires answers do change when the language of the questionnaire is switched. Ali Ben Hammou examines, with his analysis of the Islamist political discourse, the strategies of rhetoric during the Arab Spring political communication in Morocco. References De Landtsheer, Christ'l (2022). De psychologie van de politiek: een inleiding [The psychology of politics: An introduction]. Brussels, Academic and Scientific Publishers (ASP). De Landtsheer, Christ'l (2009). Collecting political meaning from the count of metaphor. In: Metaphor and discourses, Musolff, A. et al. (Eds.). Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 59-78.

Title	Details
Leadership Style of Democracy and Authoritarianism: Individual Differences in Personality, Rhetoric, and Style of Political Actors at the Elite Level and Their Support for democracy	View Paper Details
The Role of PMQs in the Overthrow of Boris Johnson.	View Paper Details
Voicing Politics and the Debility of Political Science	View Paper Details
Strategies of Rhetoric During the Arab Spring Political Communication. An Analysis of the Islamist Political Discourse	View Paper Details