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Chapter 16

I had a hard time picking a chapter to read for this blog post because I am really interested in argumentation in law, religion, and politics. I decided to do my blog post on chapter 16 “Argumentation in Government and Politics” because I think this is a topic that really pertains to present times, especially if we take a look at President Trump, it has been made very clear that his argumentational ways are faulty. Political argumentation is defined in the text as “...the process of using verbal and visual arguments to influence the policy decisions of a political community.” (278) The most important thing to remember with political argumentation is that the main claims that are used are policy claims, claims that advocate for some kind of policy change. I think the most important part of political arguments is evidence and credibility together. In order for the audience to adhere to your claims as a political figure, the evidence you are presenting must be credible, and therefore having credible claims will make you seem like a more credible leader and people will more easily adhere to what you say. I especially think it is important to take a look at political argumentation in today's political climate because it is clear that many fallacies are often used and the way politicians argue is clearly faulty and relies on personal attacks, especially coming from President Trump.

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