{"id":25854,"date":"2026-08-03T07:51:49","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T01:21:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/politicsrights.com\/?p=25854"},"modified":"2026-08-04T08:34:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T02:04:36","slug":"democracy-and-the-art-of-rhetoric","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/politicsrights.com\/fr\/democracy-and-the-art-of-rhetoric\/","title":{"rendered":"La d\u00e9mocratie et l'art de la rh\u00e9torique"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than any other regime, democracies rely on the power of public speech or what used to be known as the art of rhetoric.  Democratic governments have rightly been called \u201clogo-centric\u201d or talk-centered because most of what goes on, whether on the floor of Congress, in town hall meetings, or in the jury room, takes place in and through language. Drawing on an idealized image of ancient Athens, John Stuart Mill once described democracy as government by discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American polity has become a rhetorical democracy, that is, increasingly dependent on the power of speech. Ever since Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, the office of the presidency has increasingly become a vehicle for the mobilization of mass opinion. What was once regarded as a limited constitutional office has now become a kind of plebiscitary office with a direct line of communication between the president and the people.  From Reagan to Clinton to Obama and Trump, we expect the president to be a \u201cgreat communicator\u201d \u2014 or tweeter \u2014  and we think less of presidents who are not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

La capacit\u00e9 \u00e0 distinguer le discours persuasif de la d\u00e9magogie demeure l'une des t\u00e2ches les plus pressantes des d\u00e9mocraties modernes.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dans mon r\u00e9cent ouvrage, On Statesmanship<\/a><\/em>, je soutiens que la rh\u00e9torique demeure un \u00e9l\u00e9ment indispensable de la bo\u00eete \u00e0 outils de l'homme d'\u00c9tat. Dans son expression canonique, la Rh\u00e9torique<\/em>, Aristote distingue trois traits du discours persuasif qu'il nomme logos<\/em>, ethos<\/em> et pathos<\/em>. Nous pouvons appeler cela le triangle d'Aristote. Examinons chacun d'eux tour \u00e0 tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

La politique comme dire-vrai<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Le premier trait de la persuasion est le logos<\/em>, un terme qui renvoie \u00e0 la raison ou \u00e0 la rationalit\u00e9, mais que je pr\u00e9f\u00e8re concevoir comme une capacit\u00e9 de dire-vrai. La politique consiste \u00e0 donner et \u00e0 partager des arguments sur des questions de justice, de bien commun et de qui doit gouverner.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Demo_Book<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

La communaut\u00e9 politique constitue un tout rationnel, en ce sens qu'elle pr\u00e9suppose un monde de faits et d'exp\u00e9riences communs dans lequel les hommes d'\u00c9tat et les citoyens peuvent puiser leur arsenal d'arguments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Il s'agit d'un lointain anc\u00eatre de ce que des philosophes contemporains comme John Rawls et J\u00fcrgen Habermas ont appel\u00e9 la \u00ab rationalit\u00e9 publique \u00bb, selon laquelle seul ce qui fait appel \u00e0 des donn\u00e9es v\u00e9rifiables publiquement peut \u00eatre admis comme raison dans le forum de la d\u00e9lib\u00e9ration politique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

La premi\u00e8re responsabilit\u00e9 de l'homme d'\u00c9tat consiste dans la capacit\u00e9 de dire-vrai, c'est-\u00e0-dire dans l'adh\u00e9sion aux canons de ce que Jonathan Rauch a appel\u00e9 la \u00ab communaut\u00e9 fond\u00e9e sur la r\u00e9alit\u00e9 \u00bb. Cela constitue la base d'un monde commun de faits au sein duquel peuvent se d\u00e9rouler le d\u00e9bat politique et la prise de d\u00e9cision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be sure, there will always be disagreement about the meaning of the facts, but without some basic consensus on what the facts are, political life will devolve into a Hobbesian state of nature in which every person is simply entitled to their own truth.  It is precisely this kind of epistemic anarchy that is sown today by conspiracy theorists, internet trolls, and other purveyors of disinformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politique et confiance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Qu'est-ce qui rend un argument convaincant ? Ce n'est pas la raison et la logique seules, mais le caract\u00e8re de celui qui parle. Les arguments politiques ne se d\u00e9ploient pas dans un laboratoire<\/a> ni dans une salle de s\u00e9minaire, o\u00f9 ils pourraient \u00eatre jug\u00e9s \u00e0 l'aune du meilleur argument. Les arguments politiques sont de nature ad hominem<\/em>. Ce sont des performances adress\u00e9es par un orateur particulier \u00e0 un auditoire particulier, dans des circonstances particuli\u00e8res. Qui formule l'argument d\u00e9terminera en partie son succ\u00e8s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Le pouvoir du r\u00e9cit est \u00e0 la fois n\u00e9cessaire et dangereux.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

C'est ici qu'intervient l'ethos<\/em>. L'ethos<\/em> est un terme souvent traduit par caract\u00e8re<\/em> ou habitude<\/em>, mais que je con\u00e7ois comme une forme de confiance publique. Il doit exister un certain niveau de confiance entre l'orateur et son auditoire, laquelle ne peut \u00eatre assur\u00e9e que lorsque le caract\u00e8re de l'orateur pr\u00e9sente des qualit\u00e9s que l'auditoire juge dignes d'estime. Cette capacit\u00e9 \u00e0 \u00e9tablir la confiance rel\u00e8ve de l'ethos<\/em>, c'est-\u00e0-dire du caract\u00e8re.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trust is not intended simply as a supplement to reason-giving but is a precondition for it. We speak of taking arguments \u201con faith\u201d largely because we have a prior inclination to believe what a speaker is saying. Why? Presumably because the speaker must possess certain character traits that we find admirable, which may include courage, practical wisdom, a reputation for success, a willingness to challenge dogmas, or even such things as a fiery temperament or a capacity for indignation.  Any or all of these may provide an incentive to believe what they say. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politique et r\u00e9cit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

La derni\u00e8re qualit\u00e9 n\u00e9cessaire \u00e0 un discours efficace est le pathos<\/em>, terme traduit par passion ou \u00e9motion. Il ne suffit pas que l'homme d'\u00c9tat pr\u00e9sente des arguments rationnels et fasse preuve d'un bon caract\u00e8re moral ; il faut aussi toucher le c\u0153ur des gens, les persuader qu'il ne pense pas seulement comme eux, mais qu'il ressent aussi comme eux. Il importe de mobiliser les sympathies morales d'un peuple. Le pathos<\/em> a une tonalit\u00e9 r\u00e9solument th\u00e9\u00e2trale. Il est n\u00e9cessaire d'\u00e9tablir un certain degr\u00e9 d'empathie entre les dirigeants et le public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

L'art de la rh\u00e9torique fut autrefois consid\u00e9r\u00e9 comme le c\u0153ur de toutes les \u00e9tudes humanistes.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The idea that politics is a matter of affective behavior has always been understood by great political leaders who know how to connect with their audiences.  This is why they speak not only in terms of reasons and arguments but in narratives and stories that connect a people to their history, traditions, and collective memories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nous ne sommes pas seulement des animaux rationnels, mais des \u00eatres narratifs qui se con\u00e7oivent eux-m\u00eames \u00e0 travers les r\u00e9cits et les mythologies que nous cr\u00e9ons pour donner sens \u00e0 notre exp\u00e9rience. Lorsque Lincoln en appelait aux \u00ab cordes mystiques de la m\u00e9moire \u00bb, lorsque John Kennedy disait \u00ab ne demandez pas \u00bb, ou lorsque Ronald Reagan \u00e9voquait la \u00ab cit\u00e9 rayonnante sur une colline \u00bb, ils invoquaient des images capables de relier le peuple \u00e0 ses aspirations les plus \u00e9lev\u00e9es. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The difficulty comes when we attempt to translate reason-giving into narrative forms.  Argument is one thing; storytelling another.  Stories may have an immediate \u201cfeel good\u201d effect, but overdone, they can have a corrosive influence on truth. Emotionally charged stories can provide a temporary moral high for an audience but can end up increasing feelings of anger and frustration.  Stories are intended to illustrate arguments, not to replace them. Inevitably, the process of translation involves a simplification and therefore a distortion of the truth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is easy for stories to become unmoored from fact and evidence and take on a life of their own. Conspiracy theories are one form of storytelling.  It is enough to claim \u201ca lot of people are saying\u201d to make something seem true. This arises from the very human need to turn apparently random acts into a plan or a pattern. It is the feature of the conspiratorial mind to be able to prove that all events, however seemingly random or contingent, form part of the same design manipulated, generally, by a single malign force. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The power of narrative is both necessary and dangerous. Some narratives, like the American Dream may speak to a people\u2019s highest ideals, while others, like the myth of the master race or the myth of the classless society are apocalyptic doctrines that have morphed into spectacles of terror and violence. It is important that a statesman be able to invoke the power of narrative, but this must always be guided by an ethic of restraint, responsibility, and a concern for truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The art of rhetoric was once considered the core of all humanistic studies. In the ancient world, rhetoric was considered a necessary component for participation in political life. Today, rhetoric is too often regarded as \u201chot air\u201d or a cynical mask for the speaker\u2019s hidden motives and ambitions.  But this is to simplify. The ability to distinguish between persuasive speech and demagoguery remains one of the most pressing tasks of modern democracies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The greatest statesmen \u2014 Pericles, Lincoln, Churchill \u2014 have all been masters of persuasion. They were able to set a course for their countries through powerful narratives and symbols and communicate it to others through rational speech and images. To master the art of public speaking was and remains a requirement for effective citizenship. The neglect of this art is in part responsible for the degradation of our contemporary public culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than any other regime, democracies rely on the power of public speech or what used to be known as the art of rhetoric…\u00a0 <\/p>","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":25863,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":35,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,950],"ppma_author":[1225],"class_list":["post-25854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-books","tag-democracy","tag-philosophy"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","authors":[{"term_id":1225,"user_id":197,"is_guest":0,"slug":"steven-b-smith","display_name":"Steven B. Smith","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/politicsrights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Steven-Smith.webp","url2x":"https:\/\/politicsrights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Steven-Smith.webp"},"author_category":"1","user_url":"","last_name":"","first_name":"","job_title":"","description":"Alfred Cowles Professor of Political Science at Yale University, where he also co-directs the Center for the Study of Representative Institutions. His research focuses on the history of political philosophy, the relation between religion and politics, and theories of representative government. He is the author of several books, including Reading Leo Strauss<\/em> and Modernity and Its Discontents<\/em>."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/politicsrights.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/politicsrights.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/politicsrights.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/politicsrights.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/politicsrights.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25854"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/politicsrights.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25880,"href":"https:\/\/politicsrights.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25854\/revisions\/25880"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/politicsrights.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/politicsrights.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/politicsrights.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/politicsrights.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25854"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/politicsrights.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=25854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}