Insiders, Outsiders, Populism, and Rhetoric

Abstract

Chapter 2 is the methodological chapter linking theories and history of rhetoric, political myth, populism, and democracy. It connects the rhetoric of insiders and outsiders to populism and the tensions between the redemptive and the pragmatic sides of representative democracy. Ethos is the keystone concept and is recognised by the audiences of democracies who confer legitimacy upon claimants. It is the means for analysing claims made by people who must convince voters that they are worthy of government. Such claims for political leadership and legitimacy are advanced in a dynamic environment of debate about their credibility and character for the jobs. The internet is the latest iteration of a tendency for rhetors to espouse technologies as means of overcoming problems and return democracy to the people.