Date of Award

6-2015

Document Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Political Science

First Advisor

Brad Hays

Language

English

Keywords

political, narrative, join, narratives, agree

Abstract

Political narrative is an abstract concept. Political parties or organizations never publish or explicitly communicate them. Rather, these groups implicitly hint at narratives that they build over time. Political narratives are more or less explanations of the world and the political order. They attempt to communicate the general nature of politics and governance. They affirm policy attitudes and political commitments in light of values, held by individuals in the party or political movement they are coming from, that are posited to represent the most important, positive, and historically deeply held values of society. Narratives also commonly contain an appeal to membership by recruiting likeminded individuals. Those who agree with what the narrative represents are compelled to join the ranks. This type of call to join also provides a line of distinction. It allows the polis to identify a party with certain things, and not others. If they do not agree, members of the populace are free to choose other parties. Since the goal of a narrative is to compel the largest number of people possible to join a cause, broadness is a necessity. All together these factors seem to be necessary elements of narrative.

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