Problem
Rhetorical inflation in meetings
Other Names:
Public posturing in meetingsEmpty meeting oratory
Gap between public rhetoric and policy implementation
Nature:
Meetings, and especially international meetings reflecting different cultures and ideologies and focusing on a complex variety of issues, tend to encourage lengthy interventions of little substance. Such excesses are difficult to control because any restraint is easily seen as symptomatic of repressive social forces which are frequently implicit in the topics under discussion. As a result such meetings, when they can be held, become excessively expensive and primarily of symbolic value. Continuing public debate is intended to exert pressure towards negotiations; when it can no longer do so, it defeats the aims of its own sponsors. Incidence:
This problem arises in most non-technical meetings aiming to articulate new policies in response to pressing issues where experts are themselves in disagreement. Its importance has been frequently noted in the debates of the General Assembly of the United Nations and in the conferences of its Specialized Agencies.The permanent members of the UN Security Council met five times in the 1991-92 period to discuss arms restraint. Together they collectively account for 90% of weapons sold worldwide. They have only be able to agree on vague guidelines for arms sales and standards that each says it already meets.
Broader Problems:
PropagandaInadequate meeting methodsUnethical practices in communicationInappropriate arguments Related Problems:
CriticismPolitical displacement activity Aggravates:
Manipulation of debatesClaiming false credit for actionsImpoverishment of political debateSymbolic international agreements without substance Strategies:
Using political rhetoricUsing oratoryImplementing public policyReducing rhetorical inflation in meetingsUsing rhetorical inflation References:
Sparkes, A W: Talking Politics: a workbook Subject(s):
Social Activity → DebateCommunication → Audio, visual
Government → Public
Policy-making → Policy
Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
Problem Type:
F: Fuzzy exceptional problems Date of last update
08.03.1997 – 00:00 CET