List of political epithets

__TOC__

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:See also Alternative political spellings and the list of pejorative political puns.

Related Topics:
Alternative political spellings - List of pejorative political puns

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many political epithets are obtained by joining an otherwise neutral description of a political movement or group with a pejorative term questioning the groups's sanity or motives, or associating the group with hated political movements or leaders of the past.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Arguments about the use of these epithets often follow a pattern in which proponents of the epithets insist that the term is intended to be construed so narrowly as to be inoffensive while opponents insist that the term as heard by a typical listener will be construed more broadly. Examples of such arguments are visible in the sections below, but a general pattern may include, for proponents:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• The claim that a term (e.g., feminazi) is not intended to apply to all members of the group (feminists), but only those who exhibit some of the attributes suggested by the pejorative part of the term ("Nazis").
• The claim that the pejorative part of the term is intended to be construed narrowly (e.g., Nazi as short-hand for anybody who shows contempt for individual rights or the democratic process) rather than with its full connotations (e.g., Nazi as in Nazi Party).

Others claim that whatever the stated intent of the users of the term, combining a term identifying a group with a pejorative necessarily creates an association between the group and the pejorative. This claim is arguably based on a associationistic view of human cognition. This is the basis of many standard techniques in public relations; the use of an epithet by persons trained in public relations techniques is interpreted as an attempt to create such an association while maintaining deniability: a subtle example of the fallacy of equivocation.

Related Topics:
Associationistic - Public relations - Fallacy - Equivocation

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Regardless of intent, the possibility that political epithets will be construed more broadly than expected creates the danger of alienating a large part of one's audience. Thus, except in cases where the epithet is being used as a shibboleth to closely identify the author with a particular political movement, a cautious writer or speaker will generally adopt more neutral terminology.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In classical rhetoric, the principle of charity demands that when making an argument one assumes the most generous interpretation of one's opponent's statements, so that one's own argument is not derailed by simply claiming that the opponent's statements were misconstrued. This suggests that the most principled response to epithets is to ignore them, accepting at face value the user's claim to a narrow interpretation while again adopting more neutral terminology in one's own arguments.

Related Topics:
Rhetoric - Principle of charity

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A list of political epithets and pejorative political slogans with a brief description of each:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 
List of political epithets: Abortion on Demand ►