In reelection bid, Merkel’s not just up against a xenophobic, nationalist party in Germany. In the wake of Trump’s election, liberal democracies around the world hope she’ll defend them, too.
Hillary Clinton gives her concession speech before her staff and supporters.
Carlos Barria/Reuters
An expert in political rhetoric singles out Trump’s repeated use of reification – the tendency to treat people as things – and the role it’s played in his tortured response to the leaked tape.
From Pericles to Trump, a good speech has been an integral part of the democratic process.
William Chew/Flickr
Australian politicians – unlike their American counterparts – have largely abandoned the art of stirring speeches. Good rhetoric doesn’t equal good policy, but at least it’s evidence of imaginative thinking.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump gestures to supporters as he departs a Sept. 13 campaign rally in Clive, Iowa.
Mike Segar/Reuters
The same forces that drive belief in conspiracy theories are the ones driving the rise of Donald Trump. So it’s no wonder that, less than two months until the election, he continues to dabble in and promote them.
Protesters wearing masks of presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump march in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Dominick Reuter/Reuters
From Alfonso the Wise’s bawdy songs of slander to Ronald Reagan’s sunny smile, politics and humor have gone hand-in-hand for centuries. But no one seems to be laughing anymore.
Trump’s speech was called ‘dark,’ while Clinton let some optimism in.
“Every day I wake up determined to deliver for the people I have met all across this nation that have been neglected, ignored, and abandoned.”
Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
Trump appeared surprisingly presidential. According to a scholar of American political rhetoric, there were echoes of Roosevelt, Eisenhower and Reagan.
Supporters of Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters hold a mock coffin of the governing ANC during an election rally in 2014.
Reuters/Skyler Reid
Unscrupulous politicians are adept at using regressive story lines that feed insecurities. That could be dangerous ahead of South Africa’s hotly-contested municipal elections.
Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Greensboro, North Carolina on June 15, 2016.
Jonathan Drake/Reuters
Two experts in political rhetoric explain how one candidate has used rhetorical devices like framing and ‘argumentum in terrorem’ to stoke fear and attract voters since the Orlando nightclub shooting.
Scott Morrison said the government’s changes to superannuation were done in the name of fairness.
AAP/Stefan Postles
The faultlines in democratic politics are clear. On one side is a system of democracy that is bad at making people feel represented. On the other are anti-politician performers like Donald Trump.
Trump’s popularity reflects a broader cultural phenomenon.
REUTERS/Jim Young
Research from the University of Maryland suggests that ‘Trump culture’ is part of human culture, and has its roots in warfare, famine and natural disasters.
‘I’m not saying, I’m just saying.’
Punyaruk Baingern/Shutterstock.com
A politician’s final statement as leader is their chance to have the last word. Tony Abbott’s speech was telling in both what he chose to say and not to say.
Treasurer Joe Hockey’s failure to talk about basic measures of the economy in his second budget speech is telling.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
A budget speech that fails to discuss basic measures of how the economy going is revealing in itself. Joe Hockey is the first treasurer since at least 1981 not to mention GDP.