Debasing Political Rhetoric

Ofer Feldman is Professor of Political Psychology and Behavior at the Faculty of Policy Studies, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan. His research centers on the psychological underpinnings of mass and elite political behavior in Japan, and he has extensively published journal articles and book chapters on issues related to political communication and persuasion, political leadership, and political culture. His books include Talking Politics in Japan Today (2004), The Psychology of Political Communicators (2019, edited with Sonja Zmerli), The Rhetoric of Political Leadership (2020, edited), When Politicians Talk: The Cultural Dynamics of Public Speaking (2021, edited), Politische Psychologie: Handbuch für Studium und Wissenschaft (2022, 2nd updated and expanded edition, edited with Sonja Zmerli), Politicians’ Rhetoric: The Psychology of Words and Facial Expressions (2022, in Japanese, with Ken Kinoshita), Adversarial Political Interviewing: Worldwide Perspectives During Polarized Times (2022, edited), and Political Debasement: Incivility, Contempt, and Humiliation in Parliamentary and Public Discourse (2023, edited). In 2021, he was elected Honorary Chair of the Research Committee on Political Psychology, International Political Science Association.

“The collections offer a rich methodological source of inspirations, with a variety of techniques that had been employed to gather and analyze adequate data, ranging from more traditional media material, TV news, transcripts of parliamentary sessions, interviews to more modern ones as social media platforms, which have played a crucial role in the political debasement rhetoric and politics in general. … provide insights into a wide array of countries … .” (Artur Cedzich, Res Rhetorica, Vol. 10 (3), 2023)

• Introduction: Studying Political Debasement Discourse in the Public Sphere.- Debasement Language as a Subset of Political Incivility: Characteristics and Effects.- Coarseness in Spanish Political Discourse: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Santiago Abascal and Pablo Casado’s Aggressive Language.- Debasing Language Expressed by Two Radical Right-Wing Populist Leaders in the Netherlands: Geert Wilders and Thierry Baudet.- The Sharp-Tongued Loudmouth: Incivility and Debasement in Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro's YouTube Livestreams.