Political argumentation and the composite audience: A case study

Abstract

Political leadership typically entails the need to address composite, or heterogeneous, audiences, a situation to which rhetorical theorists have devoted little systematic attention. Close reading of a speech by British Foreign Minister Ernest Bevin in 1945 on the subject of the Anglo‐American Commission of Inquiry on Palestine provides a microscopic look into argumentative techniques employed when addressing several diverse and attentive audiences simultaneously. Four argumentative techniques are identified in this case. This study indicates that by analyzing these and related techniques, rhetorical theory can contribute significantly to our understanding of political leadership.

Key words:

• composite audience
• political argumentation
• political leadership
• Palestine
• Great Britain