The Pragmatics of Dialogue Evasion in American Political Debates

Abstract

In political discourse, dialogue evasion is a strategy by which people avoid directly answering questions or talking about certain topics during talks. The present study investigates the utilization of pragmatic strategies employed by politicians during American political debates as a means of avoiding direct confrontation. It is hypothesized that politicians employ implicature and presupposition in order to navigate talks, which may include redirection, non- answers, and questioning. Politicians also flout Grice's maxims in order to avoid providing direct responses, allowing them to manipulate the established conventions and expectations of conversations.