Chapter 11: Power, Emotions, and Agency in Political Discourse

Power is an abstract and complex notion that defines and sets hierarchical relationships among social actors. That notion may be more or less latent in a range of relationships that go from a clear or visible case of subordination to subtle manifestations of inequality.

Chouliaraki (2005), among others, distinguishes soft (symbolic) power from hard (military, economic) power. Nye (2004) defines soft power as “getting others to do want what you want” (p. 5). Symbolic power helps to establish military and economic power; the latter is merely the consequence of the former.

In these terms, “hard power” stands as a visible, obvious and notorious exercise of authority. But how can we measure power? A possible way is to observe the consequences when power is exercised, that is, the effect of exerted power on people and, of course, the number of people influenced by that power. In relation to “soft power,” how do we perceive soft or symbolic power, that is, the power exerted through language? This chapter addresses important notions and factors to consider when dealing with power in discourse, particularly in political discourse.