It’s the Emotions, Stupid By Page S. Gardner
Political campaigns, persuasion efforts & policy battles go beyond substantive issues or contesting facts & records.- About emotions evoked, values touched & identities of their intended audiences
Issues are indeed important, and substantive discussions are necessary in a democracy. Both are, in essence, vehicles that tap into underlying “affective states” — deep-seated emotions resulting from lifetime experiences and identities, sometimes passed from along from generation to generation.
These affective states are longer-lasting and, sometimes, definitional, such as anxiety or depression, and are formed not by a single stimulus but rather an accumulation of experiences. Thus, generations of Americans have interpreted the issues in the public debates of their era through the lens of particular defining experiences —from fighting for the Union or Confederacy in the Civil War, losing a job during the Great Depression, to benefiting from, or threatened by, the social movements of the 1960’s and 70s. The 9/11attacks are another example of a moment in time that is definitional.
In today’s politics, Republicans are adept at appealing to the affective states forged by cultural populism and underlying feelings of “displacement” and justified grievance. They are intentional about the issues they raise, the emotions they intend to evoke and the actions they want their audiences to take as a result. Republicans grasp the power and appeal of simplicity, while Democrats often bring the complexity of the theory of relativity to their messaging.
Republicans are targeting voters who resent elites, based on deep-seated identifications and antagonisms as well as life experiences. These voters believe that educational elites dictate their children’s education, scientific elites exaggerate the crisis of climate change, and medical elites imposed draconian measures during the height of the pandemic, including mask requirements, mandatory vaccinations and the closure of schools and businesses. Politicians are in it for themselves, and the government can’t be trusted to do the right thing or uphold American values.
Republicans define who is responsible for these voters’ grievances.
So they tap into feelings of loss of status, loss of control, and touchstone cultural concerns and anti-elitism. Therefore, they attract a broader spectrum of people than just the hard right because they appeal to some fundamental feelings.
For many, the pandemic intensified feelings of a loss of control over their own lives and communities due to prior social, economic, and cultural changes, including job losses, wage stagnation, mass immigration, racial diversity, and LGBTQ+ acceptance. Building on longstanding bigotries, these feelings contributed to right-wing populism and presenting of elites as puppeteers pulling the strings of the marionettes – the racial, ethnic and cultural "others. They are displacing those they regard as "real Americans" — those who are white and Christian. And together, the masters and the marginalized are to be blamed for the loss of place and security.
Deploying this populism to partisan advantage, Republicans are “othering” Democrats as the party of elites and narrow interests, not regular Americans. Issues from multicultural curricula and immigration to unisex bathrooms, trans athletes and even aid to Ukraine are used as means to an end. They all serve the same purpose, eliciting emotional responses and “othering” the opposition.
We all know the consequences. We are living through where this leads. . . Republicans are challenging the rules of American democracy and reversing decades of progress that recognized the fundamental rights of all Americans, particularly those traditionally left out of the American dream, including women and other traditionally marginalized communities. these Republicans’ primary goal is to dismantle the public sector and a functioning government. They refuse to accept the legitimacy of the political system unless they are in power to advance their agenda. They are advancing a virulent minority rule in the hopes of transforming the United States into a plutocracy.
And they use our language against us. The phrase, “Who Decides?” – used by progressives to advance and defend reproductive rights -- has become a powerful frame to attacking mask mandate and vaccines, among others.
How should we frame our responses and forward-looking visions? How can our appeals be first and foremost, based on the truth, but perhaps, most importantly, touching deep emotional states and a sense of identity? We need to create a market for ---and a culture of –democracy. This means making government functional, serving the needs of the citizenry, and making our system of self-government resonate with our emotions and values to advance the rights of all. We can no longer afford easy foils, but need to pull together as a nation to ensure the United States remains a global leader with an informed citizenry dedicated to key ideals.
Our fundamental task is to elevate issues that not only evoke emotional responses from our base and persuadable voters but also to foster lasting identifications with the values that have defined America’s progress, while arousing antagonism toward advocates of injustice. This often involves promoting progressive economic populism as an alternative to reactionary cultural populism. For instance, the auto workers’ strike, supported by 78% of Americans, triggers emotions ranging from resentment toward overpaid corporative executives to pride in the American workforce in an iconic industry, and the basic belief that hard work should be rewarded with a family-supporting wage.
We need to understand the emotional impact of everything we and our adversaries say and do among key audience segments. This is a multi-dimensional task, which includes understanding what is being said, to whom, the emotions it seeks to evoke and the actions it is designed to catalyze. The stakes could not be higher. This is about democracy itself.