Polemical strategy’s opening move determines whether an audience will listen

Evidence

Low-Capacity Nondemocratic: few prescribed performances; medium range of tolerated performances; much of contention via forbidden performances; low involvement of government agents in contention; high levels of violence in contentious interactions. … High-Capacity Nondemocratic: many prescribed performances; narrow range of tolerated performances; almost all contention by means of forbidden performances; high involvement of government agents in contention (often as principals); medium levels of violence in contentious interactions. — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 484 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Effective political strategy requires alternating between open and closed communication spaces; Medieval polemicists tailored their rhetorical opening to the intended audience; Others’ signaled openness governs whether one initiates talk (+17 more)

Broader Connections

• Effective political strategy requires alternating between open and closed communication spaces #complicates (0.95)
• Regime capacity shapes how contention is channeled between prescribed, tolerated, and forbidden performances #complicates (0.85) — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 484
• Exposing people to opposing viewpoints increases rather than reduces polarization #complicates (0.80) — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 453
• Concealed deliberation can produce better judgments than open debate #complicates (0.80)
• Visual media presentation changes political persuasion outcomes. #complicates (0.80)
• Audience attention is generative of greatness in performers #complicates (0.80) — The Friends of Attention, Attensity!, 414
• productivity of a discussion depends on matching goals to the audience #complicates (0.75) — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 273
• Terrorism’s effectiveness depends on strategic selection of direct and indirect audiences #complicates (0.75) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4169
• Unchallenged assertions gain credibility with passive audiences #complicates (0.75) — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 263
• Codifications choose communication channels based on audience literacy #complicates (0.75) — Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 352
• Persuasion research targets changeable audiences rather than committed opponents. #complicates (0.75) — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations, 492
• Exponential change-time distributions prevent listeners from exploiting timing strategies. #complicates (0.75)
• The networked audience differs from broadcast audiences in enabling active participation #complicates (0.70) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 593
• The same emotional tactic succeeds or fails depending on audience empathy #complicates (0.70) — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 248
• Mediated rather than face-to-face deliberation tends to polarize groups #complicates (0.70) — Didier Caluwaerts et al., Deliberation and Polarization, 123