Rational and emotional in political discourse.

This graduate thesis titled “Rational and emotional in political discourse” provides a comprehensive analysis of the interplay of rational and emotional elements in political discourse. The research focuses on exploring the balance between rational and emotional in political discourse, specifically how it is employed in presidential debates and campaign speeches during the 2020 and 2024 US presidential elections. The study attempts to detect key differences and similarities between the usage of rational and emotional appeals by Democratic and Republican candidates and explore how they use both logic and emotion to persuade the audience. The present research employs a mixed-methods approach, using both quantitative and qualitative techniques for data analysis. The collected data is comprised of transcripts of 4 presidential debates and 100 campaign speeches from Republican and Democratic candidates. Overall, this research contributes to the study of political discourse by underlining the strategic interplay between rational and emotional appeals in presidential campaigns. The results provide insights into how politicians use logic and emotion in contemporary electoral campaigns in order to persuade their audience and achieve their goals. Keywords: political discourse, presidential debates, campaign speeches, rational argumentation, emotional argumentation, political communication