Doctoral student presents research on political rhetoric at international conference

Who excels in politics?

If politics is the competitive art of influencing policy, then successful politicians must be arbiters of story. It's a trend studied by Robert Swetlic, a Ph.D. student in communication at the Wayne State University College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, under the guidance of Associate Professor Elizabeth Stoycheff, Ph.D.

Swetlic was invited in July to present his research and chair a panel at the 17th Workshop of Parliamentary Scholars and Parliamentarians at Wroxton College in England. The annual workshop brings together scholars and politicians from around the world to discuss research likely to be of practical use in politics.

He presented two papers. The first was on national security as a justification for the Deprivation of Citizenship Act recently adopted by the British Parliament. The second paper explored how politicians create or lose authority based on their own force of personality.

Swetlic used the example of former Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer who rallied support for the Deprivation of Citizenship Act with rhetoric that cast suspicion on dual and naturalized citizens. A discursive strategy that resulted in legislation with consequences for thousands.

Global trend

The securitization of citizenship, or rather, framing migration as an existential threat to national security, is not new and is not limited to U.K politics, Swetlic said.

"Since 9/11, we've seen increasing concern with borders and the control of the movement of people across those borders and the impact on citizenship law in the Western world."

He offered the political rhetoric around the Mexican border, the subsequent border wall and ICE raids as a current example of rhetoric with consequences in the U.S.

"When people hear 'national security,' there's an element of fear. They think, 'Oh, well, this is a bit of an overreach, but I'd rather be safe.'" Governments have personal interests in managing the identities of the people within their borders, he said, and as a result, politicians often adopt an 'us vs them' rhetoric.

He said what citizens can do is question politicians' words, their motives, and hold them accountable.

"I hope my research can provide insight on how to think critically about what politicians say and why," Swetlic said. "How those good at political communication can achieve great or horrible things."

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