Simran Week One: Langage and Polarization
I read the article: “How to Talk Like a Democrat (or a Republican)” by Jane Porter. The article is linked here: https://www.chicagobooth.edu/review/how-to-talk-like-democrat-or- republican. This article was about a study that had looked at speeches found in the United States Congressional Records from 1873 to 2009 to study the language that Republicans and Democrats used. The study found how there were many phrases that were partisan despite the phrases referring to the same thing.
I was surprised by how the phrases had very specific wording to create a strong connotation. For instance, Republicans tended to say “tax reforms” while Democrats tended to say “tax breaks for the rich.” The phrase “tax breaks for the rich” paints a negative image of wealthier people not having to pay as much tax, appealing to people’s sense of injustice. The phrase “tax reforms” simply suggests a positive change in taxes, appealing to people’s sense of progress. These phrases can be related to the political beliefs that the two parties have since one belief many Democrats have is taxing the wealthier people in the US more heavily. It was interesting to see how the different parties had used different phrases when talking about the same topics to show why their side of the argument is correct and attract their supporters.
The differences between the language Democrats and Republicans tended to use increased starting from the 1980s, which can be seen in the graph. I believe this trend can also be linked to the large polarization in politics in the US currently. A question I had was why the US had become more polarized starting from the 1980s. I personally believe that it might be due to the increased media use. More people would have been able to see the news broadcasted on TVs, and politicians would have a much wider audience. Politicians might have used stronger wording to appeal to people who believe in the same side of their argument.
Another thing that had surprised me was that I had heard many of these different phrases being used before on the news. And yet this was not something I had realized till I read the article. I remember how after we started doing rhetoric analysis in English, I had noticed the rhetoric techniques people were using more often. However, the use of these different words seems so innocuous that I had not noticed. I think it is important to realize the differences between the language politicians of different parties use because strong wording appeals to a narrower audience. Unlike more objective phrases, partisan phrases can prevent people from listening to the other side, creating an echo chamber. This can lead to greater polarization, similar to what we see currently in US politics.
Comments
I’m not especially interested in American politics, or politics in general, and I’m pretty unaware about what’s going on (aside from what my dad likes to chat about), but it was interesting to know that Republicans and Democrats have their own jargon. Each phrase that you mentioned reflects the views of their respective political party. Not knowing much about each party, from the phrases you provided alone, I am able to distinguish that Republicans are more in support of the taxes and advocate for its progression (these people are most likely rich people), while Democrats find faults with its system and with the rich (these are most likely the middle and lower class people). Nice work!
-Angel Susantin
I find it cool how people can cater language to their needs. By using words with different connotations, like what you mentioned, people can create a new story. You also highlighted the effects of the specific word choice: polarization. It really shows how language can cause people to think differently and in turn, effect society as a whole. The leaders of these groups probably specifically phrased these topics to convince masses that what they are advocating for is best.
I think that connotations deserve more hype than anything else because they are the main turning points to what a phrase means. For example, someone could say something in a passive agressive way to simple avoid the situation of being mad at the person but at the same time to let them know that something is going on. I also tend to figure out the different connotations for words and I am always amazed to find more variations.
Sincerely,
Mrinmayee
I find it hilarious that there's an article about how to speak like a republican. I can imagine how hard it would to try to talk about politics without knowing the connotation and denotation of certain words. I myself am not that knowledgeable about the world of politics, so I'm curious to see what my first impression of the words related to politics would be.
Like you said, the word choice of political parties can sometimes be tricky and influence how us, the citizens see things. Republicans seem to like to sugarcoat the topic of taxes into “tax reform” to make it sound more positive and propose it as a good choice towards citizens. At the same time, the Republicans could have used this word choice to cover up their real intentions of paying less taxes. The use of specific words or phrases can impact someone’s view on anything which explains why politicians are very influential and fluent speakers.
Sincerely,
Faith Tong
I have never really been into political news, so it was pretty interesting for me to read about this. The meanings of the way the phrases are worded like this reflects off their gradual understanding of their party. One wrong word could really change their argument the other way around and potentially loses their debate by how the people perceives their message.
Thank you for sharing the link in your blog. I never really knew that Republicans and Democrats used the same phrases, let alone words them differently. I always saw the republican side as bad because of Donald Trump, he would use unkind words and thw many phrases he used had no impact on me. Personally I am more of of democrat, based on the beliefs, but I also like hoe the talk and phrase their worries and goals. They make their statements more urgent and impactful. Thank you for pointing out the different types of languages they use!