Politeness in Presidential Debates

Politeness and Political Debate analyzes politeness theory and political debate, categorically evaluating politeness strategies in presidential and vice presidential debates from 1960 to 2004. The book also features an introduction to politeness theory and how to apply it to debates. To remedy the lack of information on relational dimensions of debates, politeness theory offers a compelling way of explaining audience assessments of leadership and advocacy skills. The authors summarize the results for each candidate's politeness strategies, relate them to the historical context of the campaign in which they take place, and consider them in relation to other studies conducted on the campaign debates. Debates fall into one of three sections: debating policies; attacking policies and the opponent; and directly attacking the opponent. This well-researched book ends with implications for debate planners, politicians, citizens, and scholars, including an insightful chapter on the electorate's ideal debate.