The Role of Interactional Competence in Senate Leadership: A Case Study of Senator Edward Kennedy

• In Event: 2326 - Section of Sociology of Law Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 min): Table 1: Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives

Abstract

While previous studies have investigated a range of practices that contribute to successful Senate leadership, the role of interactional competence in public events participated in by Senators has not yet been sufficiently examined. The work of being a Senator is done largely through talk, and the results achieved are the outcomes of procedures and events of which face-to-face interaction is an integral part. A Senator’s communicative competence is clearly one of the ways in which they convey their strengths to the electorate, their fellow Senators, and the press. I will conduct a case analysis of a prominent former Senator (the Late Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy). This analysis of 20 publically available video recordings from the C-SPAN online archives will reveal the types of interactional techniques, competencies and strategies used to communicate successfully while doing the work of a Senator. I will use a conversation analytic approach to examine how interactional competence plays a role in how the Senator did his job. The results of this study will contribute to our understanding of how interactional competence plays a role in the political process and how political roles are accomplished in a variety of settings, such as making speeches in Senate debates or hearings, campaign events and other public settings, chairing or asking questions in senate hearings, holding press briefings and answering questions from the press, and giving televised interviews. Particularly given the current historical period in which polarization, criticism and negativity are rampant in politics, research into those aspects of our political institutions that work well, and into those political figures (in this case, Senators) who are successful in their roles, may be useful both analytically and practically.

Author

• Angela Cora Garcia, Bentley University