The Art of Persuasion in Politics

The art of Persuasion in Politics
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Introduction
Application of language in politics has been a hot topic in public debates. There are those who blame political figures on language misuse in that their language is deemed shallow or clumsy. On the other hand, other politicians are accused of being too clever on using the language to persuade listeners towards believing their antics. What these critics (such as the press) do not understand is that they may be all the same guilty in using the same methods or are culpable of similar transgressions.
Scholars have been for a long time concerned with the mechanisms that lead to failure or success of persuasion endeavours. Research on persuasion has been ancient and can be traced back in Greece. The Greek philosophers such as Aristotle and others wrote extensively on the power of persuasion and the characteristics of persuasive messages. Early research on persuasion developed into a kind of inquiry famously known as rhetoric or rhetorical studies. This majorly focused in determining the most applicable methods of persuasion in any given situation. Scholars interested in the art of communication initiated the study of persuasion in the social science perspective. The US military department was particularly interested in this art during World War 1 and 2 and participated in the financing of studies concerning message effects. Researchers in many areas are presently concerned in the study of communication aspects in areas such as; marketing, advertising, psychology, communication health and other areas (HYPERLINK "/communication/people/index.cfm?p=Jakob_Jensen" \t "_blank"Jensen, and HYPERLINK "/communication/people/index.cfm?p=Nick_Carcioppolo" \t "_blank"Carcioppolo, 2012). The Present studies however, are focused on theory building and application. This paper will explore the art of persuasion in politics as modeled by theorists and other researchers. We will employ the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) in the discussion concerning persuasion in politics. Additionally, we will review literature from a number of scholars with regard to the employment of language and the art of persuasion in politics. Lastly, we will provide a conclusion based on the evaluation of the study.
Petty and Cacioppo’s Elaboration Likelihood Model
Elaboration likelihood Model observes persuasion as a cognitive event, denoting that the target audience employs mental processes of motivation and intelligence or lack of it, in accepting or rejecting these messages. This theory postulated by Petty and Cacioppo (1986), states two methods of influence in the art of persuasion; that is peripherally routed information and centrally routed information. Each of these routes has a virtually different target audience. This theory puts much emphasis in understanding the targeted audience before disseminating the messages.
Slow but Steady: Basic ...