Rhetorical Practices in Political Discourse: A Comparative Analysis of Joe Biden and Boris Johnson’s Election Speeches

Abstract

This research article reports discourses used by two prominent international politician, i.e., Boris Johnson and Joe Biden, in their selected pre-election speeches. Both the politicians have presented themselves to win general elections in their respective countries, Boris Johnson in 2019 and Joe Biden in 2020. In this research article, the researchers have included one speech of each politician. Norman Fairclough’s Three-Dimensional Model (1989) of Critical Discourse Analysis has been used in this study. This model is based on three stages, which are based on text, discursive practices, and social practices, also known as the description, interpretation, and explanation stages. The analysis of the speeches has been carried out based on three main themes, i.e., the requirement of the election, the importance of the election, and future of the nations after the election. The findings of the study revealed that Joe Biden emphasized the third theme, i.e., future of the nation after the election which shows his importance regarding the election whereas Boris Johnson emphasized the first theme, i.e., requirement of the election, over the other two themes, which shows his priority for the election.