Political posturing

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Political posturing, also known as political grandstanding (from the notion of performing to crowds in the grandstands), political theatre, or "kabuki", [1] is the use of speech or actions to gain political support through emotional or affective appeals. It applies especially to appeals that are seen as hollow or lacking political or economic substance, or to superficial appeals that may not reflect a person's genuine ideology or political preferences.

Contents

Description

Politics involves, among other aspects, the use of communication to reconcile differences, persuade fellow citizens, and reach decisions about governing or social order. [2] While public speaking and other forms of communication are thus a part of political activity, speaking that is regarded as shallowly signalling positions without substantively affecting policy or government structures is often criticized. [3]

News media may encourage or contribute to political posturing or grandstanding by presenting politicians' speeches or other performances to their constituents. [4] Elected politicians appear to use speeches not directly related to legislating as an opportunity to present a preferred image. For example, one study of the United States Congress found that the length of sessions has increased since the introduction of live television coverage. The speeches broadcast include what the study authors call "persuasive advertising campaigns to win the production contract from [politicians'] constituencies." [4]

Posturing may be seen not only in political rhetoric but also in legislative, law enforcement, or other official actions undertaken not on the basis of their effectiveness, but in order to reduce or deflect criticism aimed at public officials. [5] It is common for people to react emotionally rather than rationally to crisis or controversy. In response, political actors may undertake visible yet superficial actions, as these are relatively easy to understand or to see, and they may satisfy emotional responses such as anger or fear more quickly than would be necessary for in-depth substantive responses. If a political actor can take credit for quick response, and if more effective responses are less likely to gain support in the short-term, there may be pressure in favor of political posturing. [5]

Justin Tosi and Brandon Warmke use the term "moral grandstanding" to describe similar behavior where people exaggerate emotions and opinions in a public forum in order to gain social status, especially among people who agree with them. This can also involve public shaming, abandonment of nuance and context, and a mob mentality of trumped-up charges and excessive outrage. Jonathan Haidt and Tobias Rose-Stockwell note this happens on social media. [6]

Potential harm

In representative political systems, elected leaders may be pressured to take highly visible action in order to appeal to voters or influence public opinion in their favor. [7] Concern for reelection or popularity may cause political leaders to act in ways that available information or prevailing political ideology suggest are not the best course of action. Such political posturing may have short-term positive value for individual politicians, but negative consequences for the society in the medium- or long term. Various political structures, such as separation of powers or judicial review may be put in place to ameliorate the harm of political posturing. In some cases, however, such structures may allow for more political posturing by protecting politicians from potential negative consequences. [7]

In a related way, elected representatives may use speeches, committee votes, or other political action to promote themselves to constituents or to interest group such as lobbyists or political donors, sometimes in ways that harm the process of governing. [8]

Kabuki

Kabuki is a term used by American political pundits as a synonym for political posturing. [1] It acquired this derogatory meaning after drawn out peace-time treaty negotiations between the United States and Japan which had extended to 1960, and because Japan, in an effort "to shed its image as a global marauder" sent kabuki theater tours to the U.S. after World War II to sow the seeds of goodwill. [1] It first appeared in print in 1961 in the Los Angeles Times in an article written by Henry J. Taylor. [1] In the United Kingdom, analysts and commentators may refer to a similar phenomenon as political theatre. [9]

In common English usage, a kabuki dance, also kabuki play, [10] is an activity or drama carried out in real life in a predictable or stylized fashion, reminiscent of the kabuki style of Japanese stage play. [1] [11] [12] It refers to an event that is designed to create the appearance of conflict or of an uncertain outcome, when in fact the actors have worked together to determine the outcome beforehand. For example, Tom Brokaw used the term to describe U.S. Democratic party and U.S. Republican party political conventions, [11] which purport to be competitive contests to nominate presidential candidates, yet in reality the nominees are known well beforehand.

A more recent example of the use of this phrase by popular media in a Wall Street Journal article on the Supreme Court nomination hearing of Justice Sonia Sotomayor. [13] Representative Rosa DeLauro, a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut, also used the term to refer to the Republican Party effort to repeal the 2010 health-care reform act, telling reporters, "It's a kabuki dance. The fact of the matter is we're not going to repeal it." [14]

Covert political statement

In situations where free expression or access to public space are limited, as by authoritarian governments or other oppressive forces, political posturing may take covert forms, such as religious or artistic expressions. In some settings where government authorities suppress political action, the Church or other religious institutions provide an alternative site for people to express displeasure with their society, for example by decrying evil rather than overtly challenging state authorities. [15] Similarly, political drama or other highly politicized art can serve either to protest against, or to spread ideas in support of political positions or authorities. The use of such covert messaging is sometimes regarded negatively, as manipulative propaganda, but may also be regarded as neutral or positive. [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kabuki</span> Classical Japanese dance-drama

Kabuki is a classical form of Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes, and for the elaborate kumadori make-up worn by some of its performers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Performing arts</span> Art forms in which the body is used to convey artistic expression

The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Performing arts include a range of disciplines which are performed in front of a live audience, including theatre, music, and dance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public relations</span> Management of public communication of organizations

Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization to the public in order to influence their perception. Public relations and publicity differ in that PR is controlled internally, whereas publicity is not controlled and contributed by external parties. Public relations may include an organization or individual gaining exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news items that do not require direct payment. The exposure is mostly media-based, and this differentiates it from advertising as a form of marketing communications. Public relations aims to create or obtain coverage for clients for free, also known as earned media, rather than paying for marketing or advertising also known as paid media. But in the early 21st century, advertising is also a part of broader PR activities.

Genre is any style or form of communication in any mode with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other forms of art or entertainment, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Often, works fit into multiple genres by way of borrowing and recombining these conventions. Stand-alone texts, works, or pieces of communication may have individual styles, but genres are amalgams of these texts based on agreed-upon or socially inferred conventions. Some genres may have rigid, strictly adhered-to guidelines, while others may show great flexibility.

Loaded language is rhetoric used to influence an audience by using words and phrases with strong connotations. This type of language is very often made vague to more effectively invoke an emotional response and/or exploit stereotypes. Loaded words and phrases have significant emotional implications and involve strongly positive or negative reactions beyond their literal meaning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protest</span> Public expression of objection, typically political

A protest is a public expression of objection, disapproval, or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate by attending, and share the potential costs and risks of doing so. Protests can take many different forms, from individual statements to mass political demonstrations. Protesters may organize a protest as a way of publicly making their opinions heard in an attempt to influence public opinion or government policy, or they may undertake direct action in an attempt to enact desired changes themselves. When protests are part of a systematic and peaceful nonviolent campaign to achieve a particular objective, and involve the use of pressure as well as persuasion, they go beyond mere protest and may be better described as civil resistance or nonviolent resistance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theatre of Japan</span> Traditional and modern theatres found in different parts of Japan

Traditional Japanese theatre is among the oldest theatre traditions in the world. Traditional theatre includes Noh, a spiritual drama, and its comic accompaniment kyōgen; kabuki, a dance and music theatrical tradition; bunraku, puppetry; and yose, a spoken drama.

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The wisdom of repugnance or "appeal to disgust", also known informally as the yuck factor, is the belief that an intuitive negative response to some thing, idea, or practice should be interpreted as evidence for the intrinsically harmful or evil character of that thing. Furthermore, it refers to the notion that wisdom may manifest itself in feelings of disgust towards anything which lacks goodness or wisdom, though the feelings or the reasoning of such 'wisdom' may not be immediately explicable through reason.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Safe space</span> Socially safe zone for communication

The term safe space refers to places "intended to be free of bias, conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations". The term originated in LGBT culture, but has since expanded to include any place where a marginalized minority can come together to communicate regarding their shared experiences. Safe spaces are most commonly located on university campuses in the western world, but also are at workplaces, as in the case of Nokia.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Lackman, Jon (April 14, 2010). "It's Time To Retire Kabuki: The word doesn't mean what pundits think it does". Slate.
  2. ↑ Hague, Rod; Harrop, Martin; Breslin, Shaun (1998). Comparative Government and Politics: An Introduction. Macmillan. ISBN   978-0-333-69632-3.
  3. ↑ Chilton, Paul (2004). Analyzing Political Discourse. Routledge. ISBN   0-415-31472-0.
  4. 1 2 Mixon, Franklin G.; Hobson, David L.; Upadhyaya, Kamal P. (2001). "Gavel‐to‐Gavel Congressional Television Coverage as Political Advertising: The Impact of C‐Span on Legislative Sessions". Economic Inquiry. 39 (3): 351–364. doi:10.1093/ei/39.3.351.
  5. 1 2 Carter, David L. (2000). "Community policing and political posturing: Playing the game". CiteSeerX   10.1.1.527.9194 .
  6. ↑ Jonathan Haidt; Tobias Rose-Stockwell (December 2019). "The Dark Psychology of Social Networks: Why it feels like everything is going haywire". The Atlantic .
  7. 1 2 Fox, Justin; Stephenson, Matthew C. (2011). "Judicial Review as a Response to Political Posturing". The American Political Science Review. 105 (2): 397–414. doi:10.1017/S0003055411000116. JSTOR   41495072. S2CID   10698379.
  8. ↑ D'Angelo, James; Ranalli, Brent (2019). "The dark side of sunlight: How transparency helps lobbyists and hurts the public". Foreign Affairs. 98.
  9. ↑ For example: Bennister, Mark; Larkin, Phil (2018). "14: Accountability in Parliament". In Leston-Bandeira, Cristina; Thompson, Louise (eds.). Exploring Parliament. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 149–150. ISBN   978-0-19-878843-0 . Retrieved 2018-09-22. Though occasionally the sessions are illuminating in the way they expose how much control of policy detail prime ministers possess, they are still political theatre in which MPs wish to make overlong statements, or, in the words of one Chair, 'give a PM a bloody nose' [...]. [...] Although the [Liaison Committee] sessions were initially mocked as 'bore-a-thons' that failed to deliver the headline-generating political theatre journalists may have hoped for, that is in fact the key point: the sessions can involve exchanges on broad government strategy and contemporary issues [...].
  10. ↑ Schechter, Danny. The kabuki play on Capitol Hill . Al Jazeera English, 31 July 2011. Accessed 1 August 2011.
  11. 1 2 Webber, Elizabeth; Mike Feinsilber (1999). Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Allusions. Merriam-Webster. pp.  300. ISBN   0-87779-628-9.
  12. ↑ Mundy, Alicia (2006-06-13). "Budget's released: Everybody dance!". Seattle Times.
  13. ↑ Greenberg, David (2009-07-23). "The Supreme Court Kabuki Dance". Wall Street Journal.
  14. ↑ Altman, Alex (2011-01-05). "The GOP House's Opening Act: Making a Statement — or Making a Mockery?". Time Magazine. Archived from the original on January 7, 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-05.
  15. ↑ Dube, Zorodzai (2012). "Casting Out Demons in Zimbabwe: A Coded Political Posturing". Exchange. 41 (4): 352–363. doi:10.1163/1572543x-12341238.
  16. ↑ "Agitprop". Encyclopedia Britannica. June 11, 2002.
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