definition of a political speech

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First Amendment: Freedom of Speech Political Speech

Introduction
Money As Political Speech

Introduction		Important Cases
As Justice Black stated in Mills v. State of Alabama, “Whatever differences may exist about interpretations of the First Amendment, there is practically universal agreement that a major purpose of that Amendment was to protect the free discussion of governmental affairs.” Political speech includes discussions of candidates, the form of government, how government should be run, and any other discussion of the political process. These forms of speech are afforded the strongest protection, and usually any restrictions on them are judged by a strict scrutiny standard.Strict scrutiny was applied to just such a restriction in Brown v. Hartlage. The Court held that the voiding of an election due to a candidate’s offering of an idea was unconstitutional. A state corruption law prevented candidates from offering benefits to voters in exchange for votes – in this case, the candidate had promised to work for a lower salary if elected, and the election would be voided if he was found to have violated the statute. The Court determined that any restriction on the offering of ideas by a candidate to the electorate would need to be justified by a compelling state interest and could not unnecessarily infringe protected speech, and that voiding the election over this kind of campaign promise did not meet these standards.It is very difficult for a law limiting pure political speech to meet strict scrutiny, but there are rare moments when it does. In the 1992 decision in Burson v. Freeman, the Court upheld a law prohibiting solicitation of votes or distributing campaign materials within 100 ft of a polling place. The Court held that historically, some restriction on campaigning directly in or around polling places was necessary to protect the right to vote. When balancing the compelling state interest of protecting the right to vote with the right to free expression, the Court found this compromise to be constitutional.

Introduction

Important Cases

As Justice Black stated in Mills v. State of Alabama, “Whatever differences may exist about interpretations of the First Amendment, there is practically universal agreement that a major purpose of that Amendment was to protect the free discussion of governmental affairs.” Political speech includes discussions of candidates, the form of government, how government should be run, and any other discussion of the political process. These forms of speech are afforded the strongest protection, and usually any restrictions on them are judged by a strict scrutiny standard.Strict scrutiny was applied to just such a restriction in Brown v. Hartlage. The Court held that the voiding of an election due to a candidate’s offering of an idea was unconstitutional. A state corruption law prevented candidates from offering benefits to voters in exchange for votes – in this case, the candidate had promised to work for a lower salary if elected, and the election would be voided if he was found to have violated the statute. The Court determined that any restriction on the offering of ideas by a candidate to the electorate would need to be justified by a compelling state interest and could not unnecessarily infringe protected speech, and that voiding the election over this kind of campaign promise did not meet these standards.It is very difficult for a law limiting pure political speech to meet strict scrutiny, but there are rare moments when it does. In the 1992 decision in Burson v. Freeman, the Court upheld a law prohibiting solicitation of votes or distributing campaign materials within 100 ft of a polling place. The Court held that historically, some restriction on campaigning directly in or around polling places was necessary to protect the right to vote. When balancing the compelling state interest of protecting the right to vote with the right to free expression, the Court found this compromise to be constitutional.

Money as Political Speech		Important Cases
Although pure political speech has been reserved high protection, the use of money in elections as a form of political speech has proven to be quite controversial. Spending and raising money is technically symbolic speech, , usually is more susceptible to regulation. Additionally, there are serious concerns about the specific, unique ways that money can influence politics and elections, which leads many people to think it should be specifically restricted and regulated.The classic Supreme Court decision on this issue is the 1976 case Buckley v. Valeo, which controlled the law on this topic for decades. The law at issue in the case is the 1974 Amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act, which had been enacted after the Watergate investigations revealed serious campaign finance misdeeds in the 1972 presidential elections. The 1974 Amendments limited contributions, limited personal expenditures, created disclosure requirements, and created public funding for presidential elections.The Court began the opinion by determining that unlike other symbolic speech, which would normally be analyzed through the , the giving or spending of money can be either speech alone, conduct, or both. This is because “virtually every means of communicating ideas in today’s mass society requires the expenditure of money.” Therefore, the Amendments would be analyzed under strict scrutiny as restrictions on political speech.Under this analysis, the Court upheld the restrictions on contributions. Unlimited monetary contributions can cause corruption or the appearance of it, such as a “quid pro qou” deal where a candidate does a favor in exchange for a contribution. The Court felt that the government preventing this was essential to a functioning democracy. Limiting a contribution still allows someone to make a statement or message with their allowed contribution, so speech was not overly restricted. Similarly, the Court upheld financial disclosure requirements, using the same anti-corruption rationale.Limits on expenditures, however, were struck down as unconstitutional. The Court determined that limiting independent expenditures did not have the same anti-corruption impact – there being less danger of a quid pro quo deal if the individual isn’t directly contributing. Additionally, the Court rejected the argument that these limits were necessary to make candidates equal, stating the idea of restricting some speech to enhance the speech of others was “wholly foreign to the First Amendment.” Following a similar line of reasoning, the Court struck down total limits a candidate could spend on themselves, stating that it was the role of the individual – not the government – to determine how much one could spend to promote their own views.The last portion of the decision upheld the public financing of elections because it did not restrict speech. By allowing for public financing of candidates who met the requirements, speech could be expanded to a broader pool of candidates and electors.Cases involving campaign financing after Buckley focused on new loopholes or specific issues that had cropped up following that decision. The 1990 case Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce dealt with the increase in independent expenditures that followed the Buckley decision. Corporations and unions were raising money to independently expend in supporting or opposing candidates in elections. Michigan passed a law banning corporations from spending on elections from their treasuries and the state was sued by the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. The Court upheld the law as constitutional, finding that corporate structure can allow for immense concentration of wealth that can influence elections without reflecting what the actual public wants. The Michigan law allowed for corporations to make a separate account from which they could solicit for funds, which the Court determined would more accurately reflect the public’s view and serve the state’s need to maintain the integrity of elections. Congress attempted to close post-Buckley loopholes regarding “soft money” by passing the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002. Soft money are funds that are not covered by limits on contributions to candidates or committees. Corporations and unions which could not directly donate to a campaign would raise this soft money in large amounts and then donate it to the political party to spend instead. BCFRA prevented this soft money from being used by national political parties or state political parties, restrict ads that were paid for by unions and corporations that supported a candidate, make coordinated between elected officials and unions or corporations be considered contributions, expand the reporting requirements. In response to passing this law, they were sued. The law was challenged, and the case made it up to the Supreme Court as McConnell v. Federal Election Commission. The Court upheld the vast majority of the law, affirming Buckley and the important interest of preventing corruption and the appearance of corruption rationale. This rationale was supplemented with the Court’s determination that many of the 2002 amendments were necessary to prevent the circumvention of the rules affirmed in Buckley. Despite the substantial case law mostly upholding Congress’s campaign finance reform efforts, recent trends in the current Court have moved in the opposite direction – overruling a significant number of cases and causing significant controversy. The decision which prompted this major shift is Citizens United v. Federal Election Committee. Citizens United is a conservative non-profit political action group. During the 2008 election, Citizens United created a film attacking Hillary Clinton, titled “Hillary: The Movie.” The group wanted to show the movie in theatres and through on-demand video services, but the federal government blocked it. The DC District Court held that showing the video violated a section of the BCFRA, the law which had been upheld in McConnell. Specifically, by playing television ads for their film, Citizens was in violation of one section of that law prohibited use of a corporation or union’s general treasury to fund “electioneering communication” within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election. First the Court overruled Austin, now holding that it was a violation of free speech to discriminate against a speaker simply because that speaker was a corporation. The Court discussed that the main rationale behind Austin was “anti-distortional” – to equalize speech between the public and the wealthy corporations. However, this kind of equalizing rationale had been ruled unconstitutional in Buckley. Additionally, corporations reflected the association of people, so this infringed on the First Amendment right to associate as well. McDonnell was also partially overruled. The Court found no state interest to justify limiting independent expenditures by corporations. Following a similar line of reasoning to the Buckley case, the Court held that independent expenditures did not create or give the appearance of corruption. With Austin also overruled, there was no reason to specifically limit independent expenditures by corporations either. Without any state interest left remaining, the ban was struck down as unconstitutional. The Court did uphold one portion as constitutional – the disclosure requirements. Disclosure can be a burden on speech, and the Court analyzed it under a standard which required a substantial relation between the restriction (disclosure) and the significant government interest. Since disclosures do not limit expenditure or contributions and do not prevent speech and also serve the significant interest of keeping the electorate informed, the Court found this provision to be constitutionally acceptable. This trend towards deregulating finance most recently continued in the 2014 decision McCutcheon v. Federal Elections Commission. This time, aggregate contribution limits were being challenged. Aside from base limits to how much money a person can donate to a candidate, there were also limits to the total amount of money a donor could give to all candidates in total. Several prospective donors challenged this, claiming it in infringed on their First Amendment rights. The plurality held that the only permissible regulation of speech in regards to elections and campaign finance were those which served the compelling government interest in stopping “quid pro qou corruption.” After analyzing the statute, the Court determined that limiting the totals did not aid in this interest and also infringed too heavily on speech, making it unconstitutional. The plurality reasoned that since Congress established a max amount that can be given to a single candidate, then anything within that limit posed no threat of corruption. Without a limit to the total donations, each candidate can still only receive the base maximum allowed. Restricting the total would only limit the number of candidates a person could donate too – restricting their speech and political association – yet would have no effect on the base limit or quid pro quo corruption. The dissent, written by the liberals of the court, argued for a wider view of corruption – that focusing on quid pro quo corruption was far too narrow. Removing the aggregate limit allows single donors to donate vast amounts of money to a political party, regardless of individual candidate limits. Combined with the earlier Citizens United decision, the dissenters said this decision “eviscerates our Nation’s campaign finance laws, leaving a remnant incapable of dealing with the grave problems of democratic legitimacy that those laws were intended to resolve.”		) (1990) (2003) (2010) (2014)

Money as Political Speech

Important Cases

Although pure political speech has been reserved high protection, the use of money in elections as a form of political speech has proven to be quite controversial. Spending and raising money is technically symbolic speech, , usually is more susceptible to regulation. Additionally, there are serious concerns about the specific, unique ways that money can influence politics and elections, which leads many people to think it should be specifically restricted and regulated.The classic Supreme Court decision on this issue is the 1976 case Buckley v. Valeo, which controlled the law on this topic for decades. The law at issue in the case is the 1974 Amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act, which had been enacted after the Watergate investigations revealed serious campaign finance misdeeds in the 1972 presidential elections. The 1974 Amendments limited contributions, limited personal expenditures, created disclosure requirements, and created public funding for presidential elections.The Court began the opinion by determining that unlike other symbolic speech, which would normally be analyzed through the , the giving or spending of money can be either speech alone, conduct, or both. This is because “virtually every means of communicating ideas in today’s mass society requires the expenditure of money.” Therefore, the Amendments would be analyzed under strict scrutiny as restrictions on political speech.Under this analysis, the Court upheld the restrictions on contributions. Unlimited monetary contributions can cause corruption or the appearance of it, such as a “quid pro qou” deal where a candidate does a favor in exchange for a contribution. The Court felt that the government preventing this was essential to a functioning democracy. Limiting a contribution still allows someone to make a statement or message with their allowed contribution, so speech was not overly restricted. Similarly, the Court upheld financial disclosure requirements, using the same anti-corruption rationale.Limits on expenditures, however, were struck down as unconstitutional. The Court determined that limiting independent expenditures did not have the same anti-corruption impact – there being less danger of a quid pro quo deal if the individual isn’t directly contributing. Additionally, the Court rejected the argument that these limits were necessary to make candidates equal, stating the idea of restricting some speech to enhance the speech of others was “wholly foreign to the First Amendment.” Following a similar line of reasoning, the Court struck down total limits a candidate could spend on themselves, stating that it was the role of the individual – not the government – to determine how much one could spend to promote their own views.The last portion of the decision upheld the public financing of elections because it did not restrict speech. By allowing for public financing of candidates who met the requirements, speech could be expanded to a broader pool of candidates and electors.Cases involving campaign financing after Buckley focused on new loopholes or specific issues that had cropped up following that decision. The 1990 case Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce dealt with the increase in independent expenditures that followed the Buckley decision. Corporations and unions were raising money to independently expend in supporting or opposing candidates in elections. Michigan passed a law banning corporations from spending on elections from their treasuries and the state was sued by the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. The Court upheld the law as constitutional, finding that corporate structure can allow for immense concentration of wealth that can influence elections without reflecting what the actual public wants. The Michigan law allowed for corporations to make a separate account from which they could solicit for funds, which the Court determined would more accurately reflect the public’s view and serve the state’s need to maintain the integrity of elections.

Congress attempted to close post-Buckley loopholes regarding “soft money” by passing the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002. Soft money are funds that are not covered by limits on contributions to candidates or committees. Corporations and unions which could not directly donate to a campaign would raise this soft money in large amounts and then donate it to the political party to spend instead. BCFRA prevented this soft money from being used by national political parties or state political parties, restrict ads that were paid for by unions and corporations that supported a candidate, make coordinated between elected officials and unions or corporations be considered contributions, expand the reporting requirements. In response to passing this law, they were sued. The law was challenged, and the case made it up to the Supreme Court as McConnell v. Federal Election Commission.

The Court upheld the vast majority of the law, affirming Buckley and the important interest of preventing corruption and the appearance of corruption rationale. This rationale was supplemented with the Court’s determination that many of the 2002 amendments were necessary to prevent the circumvention of the rules affirmed in Buckley.

Despite the substantial case law mostly upholding Congress’s campaign finance reform efforts, recent trends in the current Court have moved in the opposite direction – overruling a significant number of cases and causing significant controversy. The decision which prompted this major shift is Citizens United v. Federal Election Committee.

Citizens United is a conservative non-profit political action group. During the 2008 election, Citizens United created a film attacking Hillary Clinton, titled “Hillary: The Movie.” The group wanted to show the movie in theatres and through on-demand video services, but the federal government blocked it. The DC District Court held that showing the video violated a section of the BCFRA, the law which had been upheld in McConnell. Specifically, by playing television ads for their film, Citizens was in violation of one section of that law prohibited use of a corporation or union’s general treasury to fund “electioneering communication” within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election.

First the Court overruled Austin, now holding that it was a violation of free speech to discriminate against a speaker simply because that speaker was a corporation. The Court discussed that the main rationale behind Austin was “anti-distortional” – to equalize speech between the public and the wealthy corporations. However, this kind of equalizing rationale had been ruled unconstitutional in Buckley. Additionally, corporations reflected the association of people, so this infringed on the First Amendment right to associate as well.

McDonnell was also partially overruled. The Court found no state interest to justify limiting independent expenditures by corporations. Following a similar line of reasoning to the Buckley case, the Court held that independent expenditures did not create or give the appearance of corruption. With Austin also overruled, there was no reason to specifically limit independent expenditures by corporations either. Without any state interest left remaining, the ban was struck down as unconstitutional.

The Court did uphold one portion as constitutional – the disclosure requirements. Disclosure can be a burden on speech, and the Court analyzed it under a standard which required a substantial relation between the restriction (disclosure) and the significant government interest. Since disclosures do not limit expenditure or contributions and do not prevent speech and also serve the significant interest of keeping the electorate informed, the Court found this provision to be constitutionally acceptable.

This trend towards deregulating finance most recently continued in the 2014 decision McCutcheon v. Federal Elections Commission. This time, aggregate contribution limits were being challenged. Aside from base limits to how much money a person can donate to a candidate, there were also limits to the total amount of money a donor could give to all candidates in total. Several prospective donors challenged this, claiming it in infringed on their First Amendment rights. The plurality held that the only permissible regulation of speech in regards to elections and campaign finance were those which served the compelling government interest in stopping “quid pro qou corruption.” After analyzing the statute, the Court determined that limiting the totals did not aid in this interest and also infringed too heavily on speech, making it unconstitutional. The plurality reasoned that since Congress established a max amount that can be given to a single candidate, then anything within that limit posed no threat of corruption. Without a limit to the total donations, each candidate can still only receive the base maximum allowed. Restricting the total would only limit the number of candidates a person could donate too – restricting their speech and political association – yet would have no effect on the base limit or quid pro quo corruption.

The dissent, written by the liberals of the court, argued for a wider view of corruption – that focusing on quid pro quo corruption was far too narrow. Removing the aggregate limit allows single donors to donate vast amounts of money to a political party, regardless of individual candidate limits. Combined with the earlier Citizens United decision, the dissenters said this decision “eviscerates our Nation’s campaign finance laws, leaving a remnant incapable of dealing with the grave problems of democratic legitimacy that those laws were intended to resolve.”

) (1990)

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(2014)

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Cambridge Festival of Ideas debate to examine the changing nature of political speeches.

Martin Luther King could get away with elevated language because his cause was a noble one. You can’t really do that when you are talking about the reform of local government. It just isn’t as big an affront to justice. Phil Collins

All eyes will be on Ed Miliband today and much has been written about the importance of his party conference speech.

But what makes a good political speech? Inevitably, Ed Miliband will be compared with Labour leaders of the past, particularly Tony Blair who was known for his persuasive powers. Phil Collins, who wrote many of Blair's speeches, says that great political speeches need a big event or a rallying cause and there are just less of them than there were in the past.

He will be speaking in a debate on political rhetoric at this year's Cambridge Festival of Ideas next month. Other speakers include David Runciman, reader in political thought at the University of Cambridge, author Piers Brendon, former Keeper of the Churchill Archives Centre and Michael White, the Guardian's political editor. The event will be held at Churchill College, Cambridge on October 20th.

For Collins, great political speeches need three key ingredients: a serious argument which leaves the audience thinking something new or resolved to act; great delivery that stirs the emotions as well as appealing to reason; and a sense of occasion.

He says: “Martin Luther King could get away with elevated language because his cause was a noble one. You can’t really do that when you are talking about the reform of local government. It just isn’t as big an affront to justice. So, there is a very good reason we have fewer remarkable speeches which is that we don’t need them as much as we did.”

Collins also justifies the use of sound bites, although he says he always worked by building a solid argument first and then trying to distil the best possible phrase out of the argument rather than the other way around. He says that not only are soundbites vital in a world where a 24/7 media edits chunks of speeches down to one phrase, but all the great writers are full of them. “We should guard against the derogatory association of the word soundbite,” he says. “All we mean, really, is a pithy way of capturing the essence of the point. To be or not to be – that really was the question. It was a soundbite too.”

He adds that the emphasis on soundbites is likely to increase. “The endless fragmentation that results from the coverage of modern media is the main reason that the soundbite has become such a ubiquitous part of political discourse. Your words are going to be chopped into pieces in any case so you might as well offer up the encapsulation you think is the best one.”

Collins says that one of the potential pitfalls of modern party conference speech is the number of people who vet it. “The big conference speeches have many authors, or at least many contributors,” he says. “It is inevitable, when there are lots of hands at work, that the integrity of the argument goes missing. The task for a conference speech is always to recuperate the argument. The more a single person can be in overall control, as a sort of editor-in-chief, the better. Writing by committee is rarely a good way to work.”

Nevertheless, a good political speech can make all the difference. David Cameron owes his leadership of the Conservatives to two speeches, he says – one he gave which was well received and one given by his rival David Davis which “bombed”. He adds that it is hard to imagine Barack Obama would have become President without his oratory powers.

The audience is clearly vital for any speech writer and Collins says people's attention spans have declined, as has the breadth of their vocabulary and range of reference. Mass democracy means that references to high culture divide an audience where they would once have united it, he says. There are also more political speeches than there used to be.

“Gladstone and Disraeli used to speak rarely every year. Each speech was an epic, months in the preparation, but they would not be doing speeches three times a week, as many politicians are now,” he says. “In the process, we have devalued the currency a little. The effective political speech, though, remains what it has always been – a mixture of reasoned argument and emotional passion.”

Other speakers at the Festival of Ideas debate will focus on the historical or wider issues associated with political speech-making. Piers Brendon, for instance, will talk about Churchill's use of political rhetoric, which he likens to the style of a music-hall performer, and contrast it with today's more colloquial, television-orientated and soundbiteish delivery.

The event, to be held at Wolfson Theatre, Churchill College from 6-7.15pm on Thursday, 20 October, will be chaired by Allen Packwood, Keeper of the Churchill Archives Centre. Arrive at 5.30pm to see an exhibition of documents from the Centre.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence . If you use this content on your site please link back to this page.

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What Makes a Speech Political?

Writing a political speech, what’s a political speech.

There are all kinds of speeches. People give speeches of celebration at weddings and birthday parties. They give speeches when explaining the latest scientific discovery and when trying to sell you things.

This competition isn’t about those kinds of speech.

It is about political speeches.

What makes a speech political?

There’s no simple answer. But think, for example, of speeches in a Parliamentary debate on a contentious bill. Those speeches will make arguments for or against something that we might do (or might not do) and will show how it will make the future better (or worse). That something will be an action that could, in principle, be implemented (or stopped). It might be going to war, signing a treaty, holding an election; raising a tax, ending a benefit, making something illegal.

In other words, political speeches concern decisions about possible courses of action which are contentious and contested and about which people might reasonably disagree.

All of this means that, unlike a lot of your university essays, your speech won’t be about politics. It will be an instance of politics. You will be trying to win people’s support for a proposition concerning something a community, a party, a council, a government, a country might do. It doesn’t have to be a big thing though. We are interested in your skills at writing a persuasive speech and not how dramatic a position you can take.

Your speech:

will be about something you think should or shouldn’t happen, something that we might support or oppose
won’t only explain things, and display your reading and learning, but also give people reasons to agree with your proposition

In drafting your speech, you should think about:

what arguments might be significant for other people (not only the ones most persuasive for you)
what people need to know about your proposition so that they can understand and get on board with what you are talking about
the examples, data, quotations and other kinds of evidence which will help make your case
the logical arguments – such as those about principle – which can show to people why your proposal is good and right as well as likely to work
the arguments people might make against your proposal (so that you can refute them in advance)
how to make an audience pay attention to you and to what you are saying
how to engage people emotionally so that they are motivated by your arguments
how to say things in a way that is memorable, powerful and interesting

Judging Criteria

Don’t worry if you are nervous about public speaking. In this competition we aren’t primarily concerned with judging how confident or authoritative you sound (and finalists will get training in that). We’re interested in your speech writing . We want to see how well you can develop and make a political case for something in a way that is suitable for a general audience.

Below are some of the key things we will think about when judging entries. Think about these when you draft your speech.

Organisation

Is the speech well organised? Does it have a clear and intelligible structure so that people can follow it? Does it develop well and do the arguments sensibly flow one from another? Does it explain things it needs to explain so that there is clarity as to what is being said and why?

Justification

We aren’t looking for speeches that are only rants. But we also aren’t expecting pure philosophical or mathematical perfection. This is politics and in politics things are contested. But for that very reason you do need to give people reasons to agree with you and not simply insist. You need to justify the claims you make. We’ll be asking: are good reasons presented for agreeing with and believing the speech? Is evidence (facts, examples, references to authorities) brought forward when needed and used well? Are claims logical and sensible?

Information

Does the speech make use of relevant information? Does it make sure audiences know what they need to know to judge the case? Is that information used well and is it accurate?

Is the speech well adapted to a general audience or is it more likely to work only for other specialists or people who already agree?

Does the speech make good use of words? Is the vocabulary rich but appropriate for a general audience? Does the speech say things in ways that are memorable and vivid? Is it likely to engage and motivate an audience? Does it make good use of figurative language, powerful images, to communicate its ideas? Does it make appropriate use of rhythm and repetition? Will the language used hold and heighten audience’s interest and help them feel connected to the issues?

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What Makes a Great Political Speech?

The best political speeches aren't always the ones that are well-written or well-delivered, says Michael Cohen, author of Live from the Campaign Trail: The Greatest Presidential Campaign Speeches of the Twentieth Century and How They Shaped Modern America .

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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What is Political Speech?

2015, The Activist

Freedom of political speech lies at the heart of democratic regimes and fundamental human rights. However, when it comes to a genuine distinction between ‘political’ and ‘other’ kinds of speech, the boundaries are blurred and the definition of ‘the political’ becomes important as well. If political speech would entail communication about political matters, then political speech would also be family talk during dinner, where the newest scandal of this or that political leader is discussed. While this speech is about politics, it is taking place in the private sphere. This is the fundamental distinction important for policymakers and civil society alike when they determine what counts as political speech.

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Political speech definition Characteristics and types examples

Political Speech

The political speech is a communication strategy that is based on creating a message through a combination of non-verbal and para verbal to persuade the individual and the masses verbally expressive resources. In this article we will present the definition of political speech along with other aspects.

The development of this type of discourse uses elements of social and behavioral psychology that have an impact on the cognitive area, in order to win supporters for electoral purposes.

Politics encompasses various factors and elements that make it one of the most important areas of study for society , and it can be said that political discourse has determined the destiny of humanity in moments that are considered historical today.

It is an essential tool for political actors, since it is used by them to express their way of seeing certain problems, link voters with their ideals, generate questions about the exercise of power or create hope in those who receive the message.

Political discourse has several characteristics. Among all of them, five stand out that are fundamental to understanding its nature: argumentation, strategy, controversy, position and persuasion.

With regard to the types of discourses, it seems that the doctrine in particular is not so important, but rather the classical postulates of Aristotelian rhetoric. Among the types of discourse proposed by scholars, the judicial , deliberative and demonstrative stand out.

Characteristics

At above you read about the definition of political speech now lets see its characteristics.

Political speeches are characterized by addressing issues as varied as the context in which politicians are operating. However, in most cases there are ideological aspects, government actions, legislative proposals or other issues closer to society, such as labor or citizen security.

These points have been part of the discursive agenda of emblematic political leaders and it is not an exaggeration to say that they have also served as a basis for writing history through famous speeches such as I have a dream by Martín Luther King, Blood, toil, tears and sweat by Winston Churchill or the inauguration speech of Nelson Mandela.

Although political speeches are greatly influenced by the context the leader is facing – be it an electoral campaign scenario, accountability or criticism of other political actors – there are certain characteristics that are generally present in a speech. The most important are the following:

1-Argumentation

The speech presents a thesis and, likewise, it also has an argumentation that supports it. Therefore, the statement that is intended to be communicated to the recipients is defended with real facts or plausible reasoning.

The construction of a discourse has a strategic sense of action; that is to say, in its development there are clearly defined objectives, ways or ways to reach the latter and antagonists or obstacles that could present themselves as threats on the playing field.

3-Controversy

Within the political discourse, the creation of an adversary is very recurrent, which undoubtedly generates controversy and arouses different emotions in the recipients of the message.

Building an enemy can be used to point to the latter as responsible for some event, or to commit the receiver of the message to join their cause and face the danger that said enemy represents.

4-Commitment to a position

Whoever assumes the political discourse is not restricted only to communicating or expressing himself neutrally about a certain situation, but is immediately linked to a specific position, commits himself to a position.

5-Persuasion

Generally, the interest in convincing is not aimed at the political adversary; rather, the appeal is to his own supporters, to his allies. In the same way, it also aims to ensure that those who are in an undecided position end up joining its cause.

Types of Political speech

There is no consensus or homogeneity within the doctrines regarding the types of political discourses. However, various authors have approached a classification based on Aristotle’s division of discursive genres .

Therefore, types of political discourses can be considered those that have their own forms and contexts. Below we will detail the most important types: definition of political speech

In this type of speech , the receiver is in a position where he must decide and take a position in relation to past events. This occurs in the customary renditions of accounts made by the rulers, in which the performance of the leaders is judged.

The political discourse in these cases focuses on demonstrating that the precise and necessary actions were taken in the development of the management . So it is a type of oratory that addresses enough supporting elements, and beyond convincing by ensuring that the right thing was done, it must be verified that it was.

2-Deliberative

Within this type are electoral and parliamentary speeches. These are used in a context in which a group of people will make a decision regarding a transcendental and future issue, such as, for example, an approval of law or the appointment of someone who will hold public office.

This type of discourse is almost always developed by showing either for or against the decision to be made; the speaker defends what he considers useful or harmful. A characteristic element of deliberative discourse is that the argumentation used is usually inductive: it goes from the specific to the general.

3-Demonstrative

The context in which the type of demonstrative political discourse unfolds is one in which the speaker does not have listeners with significant decision-making power in front of him, or is not facing a determining situation.

It is applied in acts where honors are paid or there is a certain solemnity. In this type of speech sobriety reigns.

Frequent topics

Political discourse faces as many issues as there are problems or needs at the time it occurs. They can be topics as varied as partisan principles, ideologies, government actions, bureaucratic aspects or any other element that has the goal of achieving power .

However, these issues have the disadvantage of their distance from the common citizen. That is, many times they are not aligned or do not correspond to the specific demands that the common individual may have.

Therefore, there are themes that, although they are recurrent in political discourse and essential for the conservation or obtaining of power , are not sufficient for persuasion.

So issues closer to the people, such as salary , crime reduction, economic boom or improvements in public services are also very present in political speeches and are approached in an empathic way, in order to shorten distances. and promote a positive relationship.

The foregoing has a specific weight within the strategic game that is politics, since a leader who only bases his speech on issues far from society can make an error that can easily be capitalized on by the adversary.

For this reason, political discourse always seeks a balance between issues close to the population and those that are related to power .

Examples of famous political speeches

At the end after reading the definition of political speech and its types and characteristics now look its examples as well.

This last section presents the description of three emblematic speeches that marked the 20th century, made in a specific context and with protagonists who left a mark on contemporary history:

1-I have a dream

“I have a dream” was a speech given by the American activist and politician Martin Luther King Jr., in which he defended that all people should have the same rights and be treated as equals regardless of their skin color.

It is worth noting that this speech was given in a context in which black people did not yet have the same rights as white people. Luther King Jr. shaped a future of equality that motivated millions of Americans to envision a society without racial and even religious differences.

2-Blood, toil, tears and sweat

“Blood, effort, tears and sweat”, this emblematic phrase was used by the English Prime Minister Winston Churchill in his May 1940 speech .

Churchill assumed such an important position in one of the most complex situations that his country and Europe experienced throughout the 20th century: they were cornered by Hitler and Nazi Germany in the middle of World War II .

Faced with such a serious threat, Churchill did not generate victorious expectations; on the contrary, he made it clear that the battle would not be easy. Later his leadership was vital for the victory of the group of allies in the war.

3-Nelson Mandela inauguration speech

The speech given by the then newly elected president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, was given in 1994 in a context of major racial conflict in which there was a supremacy of white people and, therefore, a segregation of other races.

Mandela was the first president with a black complexion and with a particular personal situation, because he spent more than 20 years in prison for defending his ideas. Although his own allies called for a vendetta against the white rulers who subjugated them, he was able to achieve national reconciliation and pacify his nation without the use of force.

We hope you have grasped the definition of political speech after reading this post.

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Types of speech Informative entertaining Demonstrative Persuasive etc. September 19, 2023

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V Political Speech

Published: March 2007
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One important question is whether it is right to treat political speech as more worthy of protection than other types of speech. To some extent this entails arguments similar to the arguments related to according freedom of expression special protection against government interference. Some of those arguments do suggest that political speech should occupy what is referred to in American constitutional jurisprudence as a ‘preferred position’; courts should be less prepared to countenance abridgements of political and social discussion than they should restrictions on literature, pornography, or commercial advertising. The implications of this differential treatment can be explored in four areas of political speech that are discussed in this chapter: sedition and related offences, racist hate speech, blasphemy and incitement to religious hatred, and disclosure of official secrets.

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freedom of speech

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freedom of speech , right, as stated in the 1st and 14th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States , to express information, ideas, and opinions free of government restrictions based on content. A modern legal test of the legitimacy of proposed restrictions on freedom of speech was stated in the opinion by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. in Schenk v. U.S. (1919): a restriction is legitimate only if the speech in question poses a “clear and present danger”—i.e., a risk or threat to safety or to other public interests that is serious and imminent . Many cases involving freedom of speech and of the press also have concerned defamation , obscenity , and prior restraint ( see Pentagon Papers ). See also censorship .

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Definition of political

Examples of political in a sentence.

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'political.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

politic or its source, Latin polīticus "of civil government, political" + -al entry 1

1529, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing political

anti - political
political action committee
political animal
political economy
political favor
political football
political prisoner
political science

Dictionary Entries Near political

political action

Cite this Entry

“Political.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/political. Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

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Political speeches and text structure

January 2012
In book: Morkyš, M. and A. Lieskovsky (eds.). 2012. Selected papers from the 1st ARSA Conference, pp. 1295-3000.

Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski"

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What is Political Speech

Language, Power, and Ideology in Political Writing: Emerging Research and Opportunities

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COMMENTS

Political speech Definition
Political speech. definition. Political speech means speech relating to the state government, body politic, or public administration as it relates to governmental policymaking. The term includes speech by the government or a candidate for office and any discussion of social issues. The term does not include speech concerning the administration ...
First Amendment
Political speech includes discussions of candidates, the form of government, how government should be run, and any other discussion of the political process. These forms of speech are afforded the strongest protection, and usually any restrictions on them are judged by a strict scrutiny standard.Strict scrutiny was applied to just such a ...
Definition of Political Speech : the Impact and Importance
The Definition of Political Speech encompasses the expression of ideas, opinions, and viewpoints on matters related to governance, public policy, and political affairs. It serves as a fundamental element in democratic societies, allowing individuals to voice their beliefs and participate in shaping the political landscape. In this blog post, we ...
The First Amendment: Categories of Speech
The Court has long considered political and ideological speech to be at the core of the First Amendment, including speech concerning "politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion." This speech can take forms beyond the written or spoken word, such as funding or symbolic acts. A
What makes a great political speech?
Each speech was an epic, months in the preparation, but they would not be doing speeches three times a week, as many politicians are now," he says. "In the process, we have devalued the currency a little. The effective political speech, though, remains what it has always been - a mixture of reasoned argument and emotional passion."
Political Speech
Political Speeches and Persuasive Argumentation. M.N. Dedaić, in Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition), 2006 Political Speech: Definition. Political speech represents relatively autonomous discourse produced orally by a politician in front of an audience, the purpose of which is primarily persuasion rather than information or entertainment.
Writing a Political Speech
Those speeches will make arguments for or against something that we might do (or might not do) and will show how it will make the future better (or worse). That something will be an action that could, in principle, be implemented (or stopped). It might be going to war, signing a treaty, holding an election; raising a tax, ending a benefit ...
What Makes a Great Political Speech? : NPR
But I think what - what makes it a great speech, in a sense, is the delivery, obviously, but also the context in which it was given. That's a hugely importance part of why a speech is great. PESCA ...
What is Political Speech?
What is Political Speech? Max Steuer. 2015, The Activist. Freedom of political speech lies at the heart of democratic regimes and fundamental human rights. However, when it comes to a genuine distinction between 'political' and 'other' kinds of speech, the boundaries are blurred and the definition of 'the political' becomes ...
Analysing Political Speeches: Rhetoric, Discourse and Metaphor
Political speech is a pervasive longstanding political genre. It received profound academic attention throughout the centuries and many linguistic, rhetorical, semiotic, and psychological methodolo...
Political Speech
Political speech involves expressing opinions, ideas, or beliefs about political matters such as elections, policies, candidates, and government actions. Related terms Advocacy Groups : These are organizations formed to promote specific causes or interests in politics by engaging in activities such as lobbying or public campaigns.
Protection of Core Political Speech
Core political speech consists of conduct and words that are intended to directly rally public support for a particular issue, position, or candidate. In one prominent case, the U.S. Supreme Court suggested that core political speech involves any "interactive communication concerning political change.". Meyer v.
American Rhetoric: The Power of Oratory in the United States
Full text, audio, and video database of the 100 most significant American political speeches of the 20th century, according to 137 leading scholars of American public address, as compiled by Stephen E. Lucas (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Martin J. Medhurst (Baylor University). Discover who made the cut and experience the power of rhetorical eloquence in this provocative list of "who's ...
Political speech definition Characteristics and types examples
The political speech is a communication strategy that is based on creating a message through a combination of non-verbal and para verbal to persuade the individual and the masses verbally expressive resources. In this article we will present the definition of political speech along with other aspects. The development of this type of discourse ...
Political Speech
Political speech is immune from restriction because it is a dialogue between members of the electorate and between governors and governed, and is, therefore, conducive, rather than inimical, to the operation of a constitutional democracy. The same is not so obviously true of other categories of 'speech', for which the protection of the free ...
Political Speech
Political Speech. IJ Defends the First Amendment from Political Censorship. The right to free speech, including the right to speak out about who should be elected to public office, is a fundamental American right that is essential to democratic debate. Similarly, the right of individuals to band together and pool their resources to make their ...
Freedom of speech in the United States
Core political speech is the discussion of political matters, including commentary on governmental laws and policies, discussion of public issues which may be subject to governmental action, commentary on political parties, individual politicians, political candidates and so on. This includes the right to publicly criticize the government and ...
Freedom of speech
freedom of speech, right, as stated in the 1st and 14th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, to express information, ideas, and opinions free of government restrictions based on content.A modern legal test of the legitimacy of proposed restrictions on freedom of speech was stated in the opinion by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. in Schenk v.
APPROACHES AND THEORIES TO THE STUDY OF POLITICAL SPEECH
The paper is an attempt to combine the already existing approaches to the. study of political speech in order to highlight political language and political. speech interconnection. The theoretical ...
Rhetoric, discourse and the hermeneutics of public speech
James Martin is Professor of Political Theory at Goldsmiths, University of London. His research includes studies on political rhetoric and Continental political theory. His most recent book is Psychopolitics of Speech: Uncivil Discourse and the Excess of Desire. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag, 2019.
Political Definition & Meaning
political: [adjective] of or relating to government, a government, or the conduct of government. of, relating to, or concerned with the making as distinguished from the administration of governmental policy.
(PDF) Political speeches and text structure
The present paper aims to present a cognition-based approach to text structure and the structure of political speeches in particular. It also demonstrates how simple structures deriving from basic ...
What is Political Speech
Definition of Political Speech: The talk of a professional politician addressed to a certain target group (e.g., electorate in general, students, older citizens, etc.) and aimed to pursue them to support her/his ideas and activities. ... The chapter presents the discussion on intertextuality role in political discourse, namely in key leaders ...