‘Political rhetoric should be civil’
LUCKNOW: State representative of Delaware (US), Helene M Keeley said here on Monday that to maintain political civility, rhetoric should be civil and tolerant.
Speaking during a talk on ‘Civility in Politics and the Relationship between State and Federal Governments’, Keeley referred to an incident when someone from the crowd shouted ‘liar’ while the then US President Barack Obama was addressing his supporters. “That day I felt that the US had lost its civility,” she said.
The Department of English and Modern European Languages had organised the talk in collaboration with the US Embassy, New Delhi. The session was held at Seminar Hall, Tagore Library, Lucknow University and state representative of Delaware Helene M Keeley and Senator (South Dakota) Deb M Peters were the key speakers. Dean, Faculty of Arts Prof PC Mishra presided over the session.
Senator Deb Peters talked about the challenges the government in the US faced for consensus between the state and federal governments.
She stressed on the need for accepting differences as a constructive way of collective development.
Deb talked about the relationship between Federal and state governments and the shifting boundaries of jurisdiction between the two.
Keeley emphasised on the importance of dialogue between two different political ideologies conducted with civility.
She also underlined the importance of better civic amenities and the realisation that at the end of the day the apparently different political ideologies were vying for the same end.
Professor Nishi Pandey engaged the students in an interactive dialogue with the speakers, where they sought apt answers to their queries.
Sana, a student, asked about the media influence in decreasing civility in political realms. Keeley answered that the media should report the happening rather than commenting.
The speakers emphasised on the wrong usage of social platforms to insult candidates.
To a faculty query about Trump, Keeley said, “He is a brilliant businessman. He will learn the ways of the government with time”.
Replying to Shweta’s query about position of women in US political arena, Peters talked about the constant striving energy they carried to bring in more women in the political echelons.
The session ended with the speakers narrating their journeys into politics.
SENATOR DEB PETERS STRESSED ON THE NEED FOR ACCEPTING DIFFERENCES AS A CONSTRUCTIVE WAY OF COLLECTIVE DEVELOPMENT