Strategic maneuvering in European Parliamentary Debate

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bart Garssen

This paper focuses on argumentation the institutional context of debate in the European Parliament. A parliamentary debate is a distinct argumentative activity type. In the pragma-dialectical approach, argumentative activity types are defined as conventionalized argumentative practices in which the possibilities for strategic maneuvering are predetermined. What are the characteristics of the activity type of a debate in European Parliament that predetermine the possibilities for strategic maneuvering?

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 344-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Na

Abstract This paper aims to explore the use of persuasive definition in a corporate weblog by examining how a blogger attempts to define the company’s role in response to criticisms in the cyber space. Making use of a pragma-dialectical research framework, corporate weblog is characterized as an argumentative activity type in the commercial domain in which the legitimacy of persuasive definition is contextually constrained. The paper first analyzes the institutional preconditions that restrict all the argumentative moves in a corporate weblog, and then investigates how the corporate blogger of Taobao, the biggest online shopping website in China, responds to criticism by redefinition to evade the burden of proof.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dima Mohammed

In this paper I shed light on the multi-purposive nature of debates in the European Parliament. As a case in point, I examine a debate on immigration in the wake of a migratory crisis in the Italian island of Lampedusa in early 2011. I analyze the points of view argued for by MEPs, aiming at identifying the different institutional goals that are typically pursued and characterizing the ways in which these goals shape the argumentative exchanges. The link between the multiple goals communicators have and the discourse choices they make can be assumed on the basis of previous research (see Craig 1990; Jacobs et al. 1991; Tracy 1984; Tracy and Coupland 1990). In line with the pragma-dialectical view of argumentative discourse taking place in the context of more or less institutionalized argumentative activity types (van Eemeren 2010), institutional goals are understood as those goals that can be attributed to arguers on the basis of the type of activity in which they are engaged. In identifying the institutional goals, I follow Craig (1986, 1990) and consider not only goals which are intentional, formal, and directly responsible for a certain discourse choice, but also goals which are functional, strategic, and only indirectly responsible for discourse choices. The analysis shows that the MEPs pursued three kinds of goals: goals that are 1) assigned to them by the occasion of the debate; 2) related to the powers of Parliament; and 3) associated with the different identities they assume in Parliament. While the pursuit of the occasion-related and powers-related goals gave rise to multiple simultaneous discussions, the pursuit of the identity-related goals guided the MEPs’ choices and formulations in these discussions.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 286-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Magnus R. Dahl

In this paper, political advertisements in Norway are characterized as an argumentative activity type, following the pragma-dialectal theory of argumentation. Drawing on insights from political theory, marketing theory, Norwegian media regulations and empirical research into Norwegian political communication the conventions of the activity type are discussed. It is also explained how these conventions influence the arguer’s strategic maneuvering.


2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-128
Author(s):  
Ton van Haaften

Abstract Strategic manoeuvring in plenary debates in the Second Chamber of Dutch ParliamentThe (extended) pragma-dialectical argumentation theory assumes that people engaged in argumentative discourse manoeuvre strategically. In argumentative reality, the strategic manoeuvring is carried out within specific argumentative activity types. In this paper it is argued that pragma-dialectics offers a fruitful approach to study political debate. The approach and its added value are discussed and illustrated on the basis of a specific type of political debate in a specific argumentative activity type: the plenary debate in the Second Chamber of Dutch Parliament.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 205970021987267
Author(s):  
Karen A Sullivan ◽  
Leanne Billing

This study tested the effect of issuing return-to-activity advice on activity intentions at Day 2 and Day 10 days post simulated mild traumatic brain injury. One hundred and twenty-eight volunteers were randomly allocated to one of two groups who received ( n =  65) or did not receive standardized post-injury advice ( n =  63). To prime the simulation, the participants read a mild traumatic brain injury vignette about a person who is concussed while playing sport. Then the participants role-played the injured person and reported activity intentions for three activity types (cognitive, physical and restful) twice, once for each time frame (i.e. Day 2 and Day 10). The advice was to rest for the first 24–48 h and then gradually resume normal activities. There was no significant group by activity-type interaction ( p > .05) at Day 2. When both time frames were considered, there was no significant group × time frame interaction for any activity type or any item, except for an increase in non-manual (clerical) work and weight training at Day 10 compared to Day 2 in the group with the advice. In general, the intentions for all activity types were consistent with the recovery advice (i.e., rest then increasing activity), even when the advice was not given. However, at Day 10, cognitive and physical activity levels were still expected to be lower than usual (pre-injury), and many participants were uncertain about the concept of cognitive rest. These factors, along with individual patient circumstances, should be taken into account in rehabilitation planning.


Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (20) ◽  
pp. 4504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petra Jones ◽  
Evgeny M. Mirkes ◽  
Tom Yates ◽  
Charlotte L. Edwardson ◽  
Mike Catt ◽  
...  

Few methods for classifying physical activity from accelerometer data have been tested using an independent dataset for cross-validation, and even fewer using multiple independent datasets. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether unsupervised machine learning was a viable approach for the development of a reusable clustering model that was generalisable to independent datasets. We used two labelled adult laboratory datasets to generate a k-means clustering model. To assess its generalised application, we applied the stored clustering model to three independent labelled datasets: two laboratory and one free-living. Based on the development labelled data, the ten clusters were collapsed into four activity categories: sedentary, standing/mixed/slow ambulatory, brisk ambulatory, and running. The percentages of each activity type contained in these categories were 89%, 83%, 78%, and 96%, respectively. In the laboratory independent datasets, the consistency of activity types within the clusters dropped, but remained above 70% for the sedentary clusters, and 85% for the running and ambulatory clusters. Acceleration features were similar within each cluster across samples. The clusters created reflected activity types known to be associated with health and were reasonably robust when applied to diverse independent datasets. This suggests that an unsupervised approach is potentially useful for analysing free-living accelerometer data.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frans H. van Eemeren

Abstract This introductory article concludes the examination of prototypical argumentative patterns manifesting themselves in communicative activity types in the political, legal and medical domain reported in this special issue of the Journal of Argumentation in Context (JAIC) and an earlier special issue of the journal Argumentation (2016, 30(1)). First, the results pertaining to the use of pragmatic argumentation in the main argumentation of prototypical argumentative patterns in the various domains are described that were reported in the latter issue. Next, the results are described which are reported in this issue of JAIC; they pertain to prototypical argumentative patterns in the various domains that come into being as a result of the employment of an argument scheme in the main argumentation that is perfectly suited for being used in a certain communicative activity type in a specific domain. In the following section an overview is provided of the most conspicuous differences in the prototypical argumentative patterns between the various communicative domains caused by the institutional preconditions for strategic maneuvering in the communicative activity types that were examined. Finally, some general conclusions are discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 333 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. José Plug

This article focuses on strategic manoeuvring that takes place in Dutch administrative judi- cial decisions. These decisions may be seen as a distinct argumentative activity type. Starting from the char- acteristics that traditionally are per- tinent to this activity type, I will explore how implications of current discussions on the changing task of the administrative judge may be- come manifest in the judge’s strate- gic manoeuvring by means of the presentation of argumentation and the introduction of additional stand- points. The case study of Dutch administrative law serves to demon- strate what consequences changing institutional demands may have for the starting points of the analysis of argumentation in judicial decisions.


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