Abstract
Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. Indeed, Aristotle defined the art of rhetoric, in his treatise of
the same name 2,300 years ago, as the function of ‘persuading … of discover[ing] the means
of coming as near such success as the circumstances of each particular case allow’ (Aristotle
2012, p. 8). For Aristotle, the ethos (character or portrayed character of the rhetor), logos
(reasoning through speech required to prove an apparent truth), and pathos (the emotions of
the rhetor and listener) were all critical elements to be mastered for the purposes of persuasion.
More recent scholarship on rhetoric has emphasized it as a collaborative ‘art of discovering
good reasons, finding what really warrants assent because any reasonable person ought to be
persuaded by what has been said’ (Booth 1974, p. xiv). This view of rhetoric – which runs
well beyond dialogue to also include the fine arts and music – puts the discovery of truth and
new levels of truth at centre stage (Booth 1974) and presumes the close interaction of agents
who are open to change. By way of contrast, the pragmatic Riker (1990) defines rhetoric as
attempts to ‘change opinion’, whilst noting that little opinion does indeed change. An unwillingness
to change reflects that doing so ‘implicitly at least requires recognition of [previous]
error’ (Riker 1990, p. 54).
The art of rhetoric infuses performance monitoring in the public sector (Drew et al. 2018).
Those implementing a performance monitoring regime, at a minimum, have persuaded
themselves and their political masters that the performance metrics chosen are important and
that the method employed to summarise and communicate performance is appropriate for the
policy goal. The other party to the dialogue – those who are being monitored – provide data
which they implicitly assert is a valid representation of reality (Drew et al. 2018). Moreover, if
the data is to be employed for decision-making purposes then end-users must be persuaded that
the metrics appropriately reflect important aspects of the entity’s performance and that the data
outputs are sufficiently robust and reliable to warrant reaction. Persuasion has become central
to public performance monitoring regimes.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | ELGAR HANDBOOKS IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT |
| Editors | Deborah Blackman |
| Place of Publication | Massachisetts |
| Publisher | Edward Elgar Publishing |
| Pages | 96-128 |
| Edition | 1 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978 1 78990 120 7 |
| Publication status | Published - 2021 |