1st Edition
The Psychology of Political Communication Politicians Under the Microscope
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
Part I. Concepts and Methods
Chapter 1. Microanalysis
Influences on microanalysis
Central features of microanalysis
Chapter 2. Theoretical Approaches
The social skills model
Face and facework
Overall conclusions
Chapter 3. Techniques of Analysis
Transcription
Speaker-audience interaction
Question-response sequences
Conclusions
Part II. Empirical studies of political discourse
Chapter 4. Claps and Claptraps: How Political Speakers and Audiences Interact
Claptraps: Techniques for inviting applause
Factors that affect speaker-audience interaction
A model of speaker-audience interaction in political speeches
Conclusions
Chapter 5. Being Slippery? Equivocation in Political Interviews
How much do politicians equivocate?
In what ways do politicians equivocate?
Equivocation profiles of leading politicians
Why do politicians equivocate?
Face and facework in political interviews
Equivocation and deception
Equivocation and the use of implicit discourse
Equivocation and culture
Conclusions
Chapter 6. The Westminster Punch and Judy Show? Leaders’ Exchanges at Prime Minister’s Questions
A background to PMQs
Overview of PMQs adversarialism
Distinctive features of PMQs discourse
The punch of PMQs?
Conclusions
Chapter 7. Political Journalism
Adversarialism
Discussion and conclusions
Part III
Chapter 8. Summary and Conclusions
References
Index
Biography
Peter Bull, PhD, FBPsS (Fellow of the British Psychological Society), is Honorary Professor in Psychology at the Universities of York and Salford, UK, and Visiting Professor in Political Communication at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. His principal interest is the detailed microanalysis of interpersonal communication: in particular, political discourse and nonverbal communication.
Maurice Waddle, PhD, lectures in psychology at the University of York, UK. His research focuses on the interpersonal communication of politicians, including their interactions with audiences, interviewers, and parliamentary opponents. He is particularly interested in the phenomenon of personalisation (i.e., playing the man, not the ball) in politics.
