Testing the language-power assumption of critical discourse analysis: The case of Israel's legislative discourse

Shaul R. Shenhav*, Gideon Rahat, Tamir Sheafer

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

Abstract. The growing interest in the relation between language and politics brings new assumptions and theoretical frameworks to the study of politics. This study presents a simple empirical test of a major assumption of the critical discourse analysis school: that power is a major factor in political discourse. It examines whether the discourse of Israeli members of parliament (Knesset) represents a view of the world through the prism of power or whether parliament members refer to the experience of similar democracies. We demonstrate that power is a strong and significant factor in Israeli legislative discourse through time and across issues while relevance plays no role.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)207-222
Number of pages16
JournalCanadian Journal of Political Science
Volume45
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2012

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Testing the language-power assumption of critical discourse analysis: The case of Israel's legislative discourse'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this