Debatable Humor represents the first systematic foray into understanding the use of humor by politicians on the campaign trail. Using content analysis of primary debates for both Republican and Democratic parties during the 2008 presidential election, Patrick A. Stewart considers not just how humor was used, who used it, and how successful these attempts at humor were, but he also gives readers insight regarding why humor and the laughter that results is an important part of politics. Not only can humor reveal a candidate’s intelligence, values, personality, and his/her connection with the audience, it also reveals the underlying values of egalitarian political systems.
Debatable Humor represents the first systematic foray into understanding the use of humor by politicians on the campaign trail. Using content analysis of primary debates for both Republican and Democratic parties during the 2008 presidential election, Patrick A. Stewart considers not just how humor was used, who used it, and how successful these attempts at humor were, but he also gives readers insight regarding why humor and the laughter that results is an important part of politics. Not only can humor reveal a candidate’s intelligence, values, personality, and his/her connection with the audience, it also reveals the underlying values of egalitarian political systems.
Chapter 1: Laughing matters on the campaign trail: Humor and
laughter in
the 2008 presidential primary debates
Chapter 2: Laugh codes: Serious thoughts about humorous comments
and the
politicians who make them
Chapter 3: Laughing all the way to the bank: Audience laughter,
media, and
money
Chapter 4: Punchline politics: Laughter and humor during
primary
debates
Chapter 5: Funny faces: Presidential candidate display behavior
Chapter 6: “Likeable enough”: Hillary Clinton, Mike Huckabee, John
McCain,
and Barack Obama
Chapter 7: Playful politicians: Why laughter and humor matters in
the rough-and-tumble world of politics
Appendix: Inter-coder reliability
Bibliography
Index
Patrick A. Stewart is assistant professor of political science at the University of Arkansas.
This analysis of a unique and rich data set sheds light on how
citizens come to judgment and moves the frontier of empirical
political humor research forward. Stewart has written a book that
is both timely, given the increased amount of political humor
available to individuals in this cable TV and Internet age, and
provocative.
*Jody Baumgartner, East Carolina University*
This is a careful, scientific look at the underrated role that
humor plays in politics. Grounded in evolutionary principles, the
author's highly original research offers a novel perspective of
contemporary U.S. politicians and parties. Anyone interested in
political campaigns and personal appeal in general will find this
book consistently enlightening.
*Glenn Weisfeld, Wayne State University*
Quietly over the past several years, a new specialty has emerged in
political science on the influence of political humor in electoral
politics. With Debatable Humor, Patrick Stewart establishes himself
as an important voice in this new terrain—and he delivers. Drawing
on evolutionary biology and social influence theory, Stewart lays
out an empirically grounded, insightful case for why political
humor and the nonverbal communication that accompanies it matters
on the campaign trail. The insights from this innovative research
show the serious side of humor and laughter in presidential
politics and broaden our understanding of how candidates are
perceived: not by words alone.
*Erik Bucy, Associate Professor, Adjunct, Indiana University, Vice
President, Research, SmithGeiger LLC; author, Image Bite Politics:
News and the Visual Framing of Elections*
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