A Critical Discourse Analysis of the 2016 Manifestos of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP)

Abstract

The main goal of political discourse is to seek the legitimization of power, mainly through the use of persuasive language. Among these discourses are manifesto discourses, which are usually in written forms and discuss political parties’ policies of developing a nation upon which they seek to be elected into office. Given their significance, manifestos employ diverse rhetorical strategies that are not found in other forms of discourse. This presentation is a Critical Discourse Study of the 2016 election manifestos of two (2) political parties in Ghana: The National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP). The research employed Fairclough’s (1995: 98) three dimensional models under Critical Discourse Analysis: Discourse as Text; Discourse as Discourse Practice; and Discourse as Sociocultural Practice. The research design adopted the qualitative method of analysis to describe five (5) selected sections of each manifesto. The qualitative method was used since it helped in the description of the data. Also, the three dimensional model, allowed for the analysis of the text, thus how the text was produced and the context within which it was produced. I posit that, the study reveals the heavy use of rhetorical/persuasive strategies such as blame, contrastive use of indigenous linguistic lexemes, comparison; and linguistic features such as nouns, pronouns, verbs and adjectives in the two different manifestos by the two (2) major political parties in Ghana. Thus, the study exposes the rhetorical or persuasive strategies that the text creators used to solicit electorates’ legitimization. Also, the study offers further insight into Fairclough’s approach to discourse studies. It was identified that his approach is potent for analyzing data on political discourse.