Persuasion as a social heuristic: A rhetorical analysis of the making of the constitution of Namibia

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dc.contributor.advisorSalazar, Philippe-Josephen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMathe, Audrinen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-07-29T20:09:08Z
dc.date.available2014-07-29T20:09:08Z
dc.date.issued2009en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe study focuses on the rhetoric used during the drafting of the Constitution of the Republic of Namibia. The thesis will offer a framework for understanding negotiations in terms of distinct and coherent rhetoric. Primary sources for this thesis consist of five volumes of the Hansard of the Standing Committee on Standing Rules and Orders and Internal Arrangements of the Windhoek Constituent Assembly. To understand the rhetoric under which the Namibian Constitution was drafted, the Hansard of the Standing Committee was analysed. By analysing the Hansard, one can begin to formulate a picture of the rhetoric that led to a new Constitution of the Republic of Namibia and begin to understand rhetoric in the Namibian context. In order to make valid assertions, one has to go beyond what was said in the Constituent Assembly and look at what the participants said elsewhere. The thesis is concerned here with their words, not with their thoughts. But there is a recognition that sometimes thoughts matter as much as words. No judgements are made on the merits of their arguments. The study simply intended to examine their rhetoric and how rhetoric impacted on the final outcome of the negotiations. The study revealed that, with very few exceptions, most of the debates of the Windhoek Constituent Assembly were initially built on argument and many of them were solved through practical reasoning. This can be explained in part by the attitude of the members and in part by the constraint of the process. The study also revealed that the informative role of deliberation helped the framers of the Namibian constitution to form a more complete set of preferences than they originally had or even forced them to change positions when they were exposed to the full consequences or incoherence of their original proposals. For another, when political actors needed to justify their proposals, they found that impartial arguments were not available or, if they were, they were too obviously tied to a particular interest to be convincing. vi Persuasion as a Social Heuristic: A Rhetorical Analysis of the making of the Constitution of Namibia The appeal to fear strategy, as a means to enable delegates to better recognise the nature of the problems facing the political community and to begin thinking about potential solutions, was clearly at play at the Windhoek Constituent Assembly. Finally, the proceedings of the Windhoek Constituent Assembly which framed the Constitution show that many of the provisions of that instrument which are seemingly straightforward and artless rest in reality upon compromises, and are often laboured and tortuous. The outcome of constitution-making in Namibia was greatly influenced by the exchange of arguments and counter-arguments among the framers.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationMathe, A. (2009). <i>Persuasion as a social heuristic: A rhetorical analysis of the making of the constitution of Namibia</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Centre for Rhetoric Studies. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/3546en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationMathe, Audrin. <i>"Persuasion as a social heuristic: A rhetorical analysis of the making of the constitution of Namibia."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Centre for Rhetoric Studies, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/3546en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationMathe, A. 2009. Persuasion as a social heuristic: A rhetorical analysis of the making of the constitution of Namibia. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Mathe, Audrin AB - The study focuses on the rhetoric used during the drafting of the Constitution of the Republic of Namibia. The thesis will offer a framework for understanding negotiations in terms of distinct and coherent rhetoric. Primary sources for this thesis consist of five volumes of the Hansard of the Standing Committee on Standing Rules and Orders and Internal Arrangements of the Windhoek Constituent Assembly. To understand the rhetoric under which the Namibian Constitution was drafted, the Hansard of the Standing Committee was analysed. By analysing the Hansard, one can begin to formulate a picture of the rhetoric that led to a new Constitution of the Republic of Namibia and begin to understand rhetoric in the Namibian context. In order to make valid assertions, one has to go beyond what was said in the Constituent Assembly and look at what the participants said elsewhere. The thesis is concerned here with their words, not with their thoughts. But there is a recognition that sometimes thoughts matter as much as words. No judgements are made on the merits of their arguments. The study simply intended to examine their rhetoric and how rhetoric impacted on the final outcome of the negotiations. The study revealed that, with very few exceptions, most of the debates of the Windhoek Constituent Assembly were initially built on argument and many of them were solved through practical reasoning. This can be explained in part by the attitude of the members and in part by the constraint of the process. The study also revealed that the informative role of deliberation helped the framers of the Namibian constitution to form a more complete set of preferences than they originally had or even forced them to change positions when they were exposed to the full consequences or incoherence of their original proposals. For another, when political actors needed to justify their proposals, they found that impartial arguments were not available or, if they were, they were too obviously tied to a particular interest to be convincing. vi Persuasion as a Social Heuristic: A Rhetorical Analysis of the making of the Constitution of Namibia The appeal to fear strategy, as a means to enable delegates to better recognise the nature of the problems facing the political community and to begin thinking about potential solutions, was clearly at play at the Windhoek Constituent Assembly. Finally, the proceedings of the Windhoek Constituent Assembly which framed the Constitution show that many of the provisions of that instrument which are seemingly straightforward and artless rest in reality upon compromises, and are often laboured and tortuous. The outcome of constitution-making in Namibia was greatly influenced by the exchange of arguments and counter-arguments among the framers. DA - 2009 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2009 T1 - Persuasion as a social heuristic: A rhetorical analysis of the making of the constitution of Namibia TI - Persuasion as a social heuristic: A rhetorical analysis of the making of the constitution of Namibia UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/3546 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/3546
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationMathe A. Persuasion as a social heuristic: A rhetorical analysis of the making of the constitution of Namibia. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Centre for Rhetoric Studies, 2009 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/3546en_ZA
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.departmentCentre for Rhetoric Studiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherRhetoric Studiesen_ZA
dc.titlePersuasion as a social heuristic: A rhetorical analysis of the making of the constitution of Namibiaen_ZA
dc.typeDoctoral Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoral
dc.type.qualificationnamePhDen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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