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Threat to narrative midnight wave mix5/26/2023 They will push them into believing that their party’s ideology is best suited for their happiness, well-being and security … physical, social and financial. Political parties will woo them like there is no tomorrow. People want to know, and politicians will leave no stones unturned to meet that demand - even by influencing them with half-truths.ĭeputy Resident Editor, Karnataka will be entering the season wherein citizens will be appealed to, urged, reasoned with and cajoled into casting their votes to perform that one significant duty as a citizen. But let it not be forgotten that the voter’s mind is made up based on half-truths that construct the narratives … unless mere looks or choice of dressing styles of a candidate plays the role to influence the voter to vote for that particular poll contestant.ĭemocracy, unfortunately, is more complex than that. When that happens, the narrative/s have played their part “successfully”. Once formed, they are difficult to undo despite the best efforts. It’s like lighting the fuse of a serial firecracker and stepping aside to enjoy its results. Some political party or the other is directly or indirectly at work in instigating these to sow seeds for a fresh narrative or consolidate upon an existing one. Which is why cases of lynching, communal and sectarian riots and arson tend to go up as the polls come closer. On an extreme end is violence resorted to for creating narratives. This is the basis of major political debates on issues that are felt to be the determining factors in a poll. They will believe in a particular narrative if it suits them, and will vehemently oppose it if it doesn’t. Voter behaviour is basic human behaviour. “Political narrative is impactful in its ability to elicit pathos, allowing the narrative to be influential through the value it provides rather than the truth that is told,” according to American Journal of Cultural Sociology. It helps them alter relationships among various groups - communal or otherwise - as well as among individuals.īut by their very nature, political narratives have the potential to be transformed into facts from what may not be factual, and that becomes a part of the public discourse, repeatedly churned out in speeches at political rallies. Creating narratives helps them build and shape perspectives among sections of the electorate. Political narratives to sway certain sections of voters to their line of thought is a credible tool in the hands of politicians. The voters consume such narratives floated by the political elements and their intellectual props. And wherever there is a semblance of conspiracy, there is every chance of a narrative being fake or modified to suit specific political objectives. What may seem unfair is that these narratives are collectively - and often conspiratorially - created by political elements to put their rivals down to influence the highly malleable and impressionable mind of the voter.
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