The Crisis of Rhetoric: Renewing Political Speech and Speechwriting

英国公众不信任政客和他们说话的方式。调查显示，不仅公众认为政客是不符合他们最大利益的说谎者，而且他们的言论使公民与他们的政客和政治疏远。这就是许多人被杰里米·科尔宾或奈杰尔·法拉奇等新型民粹主义政客吸引的原因之一：他们似乎向人民说话，以一种看似直截了当、每天都很真实的方式阐述自己的观点。与此同时，英国的政治争论变得更加宗派和愤怒，2016年欧盟公投活动受到各方滥用统计数据、误导性推断和难以核实的说法的破坏。我们认为这是一个问题。一个人民需要能够就其面临的政治挑战进行辩论和辩论，一个有效的政府必须能够赢得公众的尊重，并确保它对政府正在做什么以及为什么这样做有所了解。英国政治可能永远不会有我们与一些美国政客联系在一起的那种鼓舞人心的演讲，但它可以也应该有令人愉悦、证明和说服的演讲(正如古希腊和罗马的修辞家和演说家所建议的那样)。我们认为当代英国政治正在经历一场修辞危机--也就是一场古老的政治辩论和演讲艺术的危机。我们将为这个项目带来的网络将结合和巩固最好的政治修辞研究：古希腊和罗马研究(研究和系统化了许多至今仍在使用的修辞技巧)、英国政治史研究、当代政治理论、媒体研究和语言学。该网络还将利用PI和Co-I在政界(政客、演讲稿撰稿人和政治记者)中的现有联系，让这些群体参与讨论英国政治演讲和修辞的现状。我们可以一起理解并帮助补救英国政治演讲的危机。在第一个研讨会中，政治演讲稿撰稿人、政治家和记者将解释他们对当前英国政治演讲的看法。从他们那里，学术研究人员将更多地了解政治行为者在试图准确、清晰和公平地解释自己的同时又具有说服力时所面临的挑战。第二个工作坊探讨了不同学者在研究修辞时使用的各种概念，以了解如何最好地结合我们不同领域的见解，清楚地思考我们当前政治文化中的言语状态，并将这些见解传达给实践者。第三个工作坊着眼于政治行为者如何通过修辞学在他们和他们(潜在的)支持者之间创造一种认同感、信任和尊重的感觉。这一讨论将不同历史时期的实践与今天的英国政治演讲进行了比较。第四个研讨会关注的是，在复杂、有争议和公开的政治背景下，政治家和其他政治辩论者如何提出以某种方式思考的理由，并试图让其他人分享这些理由。第三个工作坊的比较历史观点将再次被用来强调当前政治实践的独特之处。第五个工作坊集中讨论媒体对政治辩论的形成和经验的影响，以及新旧媒体对我们的辩论文化的挑战和改善的机会。最后一个工作坊向从业者介绍调查结果。他们的评论将直接提供给网络的产出，包括一份为媒体、政治家和公众提供切实建议的报告，以改进我们理性和有说服力的公开辩论文化。

The British public distrust politicians and the way they talk. Surveys show not only that the public think politicians are liars who do not share their best interests, but also that their speech alienates citizens from their politicians and from politics. This is one reason that many people are attracted to new kinds of 'populist' politicians such as Jeremy Corbyn or Nigel Farage: they seem to speak to the people and make their case in a seemingly straightforward, every-day and 'authentic' way. At the same time, political argument in the UK has become more sectarian and angry and the 2016 EU referendum campaign was marred by the misuse of statistics on all sides, misleading inferences and hard-to-verify claims. We think that this is a problem. A people needs to be able to debate and argue well about the political challenges it faces, and an effective government must be able to win the respect of a public and ensure that it understands something of what government is doing and why. British Politics may never have the kind of 'inspirational' speech we associate with some American politicians but it can and should have speech that please, proves and persuades (as ancient Greek and Roman rhetoricians and orators advised).We see contemporary British politics as experiencing a crisis of rhetoric - that is, a crisis of the ancient art of political argument and oratory. The network we will bring together for this project will combine and consolidate the best research into political rhetoric: studies of ancient Greece and Rome (where many rhetorical techniques still used today were studied and systematised), historical studies of UK politics, contemporary political theory, media studies, and linguistics. The network will also build on PI's and Co-I's existing links in the political community (politicians, speechwriters and political journalists) to engage these groups in discussion about the current state of political oratory and rhetoric in the UK. Together we can understand and help remedy the crisis of British political speech.In the first workshop political speechwriters, politicians and journalists will explain their views of current British political speech. From them, academic researchers will learn more about the challenges faced when political actors try to explain themselves accurately, clearly and fairly while also being persuasive. These insights will directly inform the discussions in the following workshops.The second workshop explores the various concepts different scholars use when researching rhetoric in order to understand how best to combine the insights of our different fields, to think clearly about the state of speech in our current political culture, and to communicate these insights to the practitioners.The third workshop looks at the ways in which, through rhetoric, political actors try to create a sense of identification, trust and respect between them and their (potential) supporters. This discussion compares practices of different historical periods with British political speech today.A fourth workshop focuses on the ways in which - in the complex, contested and public contexts of politics - politicians and other political debaters present reasons for thinking in a certain way and try to get others to share them. The comparative historical perspective from workshop three will again be applied to highlight what is distinctive about current political practice.A fifth workshop centres on the influence of media on the shape and experience of political argument, and the ways in which old and new media are a challenge to, and an opportunity for improving, our culture of debate.The final workshop presents findings to practitioners. Their comments will feed directly into the outputs of the network, including a report with practical suggestions for the media, politicians and the public for improving our culture of reasoned and persuasive public debate.