In 2013 the Journal of Argumentation in Context published a special issue (edited by Lewinski and Mohammed 2013) bringing together theoretical and empirical contributions to the study of argumentation in political deliberative contexts. Almost a decade after this publication, the study of political argumentation has remained as relevant as ever. For one thing, in the field of argumentation theory new analytical and evaluative instruments have been developed, serving to unravel the argumentative patterns (van Eemeren 2017) and the argumentative style (van Eemeren 2021) characteristic of political communication.
On 7 October 2021 we organized a symposium on ‘Argumentation in European Politics’ at the University of Amsterdam. The main goal of this symposium was to examine how arguments are provided and criticized to achieve sound political decisions, to legitimize those decisions and to increase their acceptability for the general public in the long term. The papers presented at this colloquium are published in this new special issue focusing on argumentation in European politics
This special issue attempts to make a meaningful contribution to understanding, interpreting and assessing political positions and justificatory reasons. While recognizing the vital role of argumentation in every political context all over the world, we zoom in on argumentation as it is employed in European politics. Our motivation is determined by the unique political arena in Europe. Of the more or less 50 countries in Europe at the moment, 27 countries are Member States of the European Union (EU). An substantial tension arises in the relationship between Member States and the EU. Many scholars and political figures alike point at reduced confidence among citizens and the EU as a sphere of governance, and deepening divisions among parts of the population in their country’s political order (cf. Majone 2014).
Although this reality has only become more acute (consider, for example, recent events as Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic or the migration crisis), the argumentative dimension of European politics is currently critically under-investigated, despite arguments being pertinent instruments to justify political action and gain citizen trust. The current reality imposes a robust and convincing use of argumentation in public debates as essential features for a good and effective communication among different parties. From a practical perspective, argumentation is the litmus test for political actors who have to manage particularly complex situations. From a scholarly perspective, understanding their argumentation can generate important knowledge about the functioning of political institutions (cf. Salomonsen & ‘t Hart 2020).
The contributions in this special issue reflect a variety of political contexts in which argumentation is employed for persuasive purposes. They include European parliamentary debates (van Eemeren, Garssen), public debates (Doury and Casillo), European Commission press releases (Andone), Italian party programs, political speeches, interviews, newspaper editorials and posts (Kienpointner, Brambilla), and Portuguese political campaigns (Mohammed). In their papers, the authors investigate the argumentative style of political actors, the argumentative patterns employed by political organizations to convince addressees, and many linguistic strategies of national political actors, varying from persuasive definitions to personal attacks, arguments based on quotations and fear appeals. The investigations comprise empirical perspectives describing and analyzing argumentation, alongside normative perspectives evaluating the quality of the argumentation. In what follows, we elaborate in more detail on each contribution.
More details here