On the alethic and moral status of political storytelling

Abstract

Abstract The article reconstructs the theory of political storytelling as outlined by political strategist Mark McKinnon. Stories that conform to this theory feature a suspense structure, and as such they invoke hope and fear in recipients, thereby instilling pro- or contra-attitudes. This is potentially problematic in four respects: Political storytelling (1) can be used to induce attitude-change without a rational foundation, thereby infringing on the receiver’s right to epistemic self-determination; (2) political storytelling may involve a misrepresentation of the teller’s communicative intentions, thereby disclosing the truth about them in a way that is potentially harmful to society; (3) by expressing rather than stating crucial elements of his or her “message,” the political storyteller may immunize him- or herself from critique and mask the true content of the message; (4) by attempting to influence recipients’ preferences, the political storyteller does not conform to some fundamental principle of representative democracy.