The Symbolic Uses of Politics

by Murray Edelman

The Symbolic Uses of Politics is the seminal work on symbolic politics, and it continues to exert a widespread influence on scholarly research. In it, Edelman explored the use of myths, rites, and other symbolic forms of communication in the formation of public opinion and policy. He drew a distinction between the conventional view of politics, which focuses on how people acquire what they want through government, and the reality of politics, in which political symbolism is used to influence a country’s citizens by placating them or compelling them to act. The book was centred on the notion that democracy is largely symbolic and expressive in function and has fostered vibrant scholarly debate. According to Edelman, political reality is concealed from the public through the generation of largely empty symbols by the political elite.

Genres: Politics, Political Science, Nonfiction

232 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1967

About the author

Edelman received a bachelor’s degree in social sciences from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1941. He then earned a master’s degree in history from the University of Chicago in 1942 and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1948. He served on the faculty of the University of Illinois from 1948 to 1966. In 1966 Edelman joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and he retired from there in 1990.

Edelman’s innovative and classic book The Symbolic Uses of Politics (1964) is the seminal work on symbolic politics, and it continues to exert a widespread influence on scholarly research. In it, Edelman explored the use of myths, rites, and other symbolic forms of communication in the formation of public opinion and policy. He drew a distinction between the conventional view of politics, which focuses on how people acquire what they want through government, and the reality of politics, in which political symbolism is used to influence a country’s citizens by placating them or compelling them to act. The book was centred on the notion that democracy is largely symbolic and expressive in function and has fostered vibrant scholarly debate. According to Edelman, political reality is concealed from the public through the generation of largely empty symbols by the political elite.

Edelman wrote 10 other books exploring the issues of which The Symbolic Uses of Politics laid the foundation. Those books include Politics as Symbolic Action: Mass Arousal and Quiescence (1971), which explored the generation of political perception and public opinion in democracies and mass political action, and Constructing the Political Spectacle (1988), in which he argued that even those who are the most well-versed in politics would exhibit characteristics of the dominant ideology—even if they developed and espoused ideologies that ran counter to it

Reviews

[Sarahfina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edelman is my favorite political theorist. This book changed the way I look at, literally, *everything*.

[Maryjane Strange · Rating 3 out of 5]

i really enjoyed this germinal work on how symbols function rhetorically, how different signifiers build on one another, and the application of deconstructing myths!

[C. Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in 1964, still contains a lot that is relevant to today's politics, especially how a politician like Trump can succeed, but I suspect that a fair amount of the research results cited wouldn't hold up as well today as attitudes and economic concerns have changed over the decades. Not surprisingly, a lot of what is revealed is how bread and circuses are used to placate voters. Particularly interesting to learn about how actual policies and actions that get high marks often do little to correct the real problem, but voters feel they can check off something on their list of things to worry about and move on to another issue.

First half dense but interesting to read, but I found the second half way too academically dry and skimmed much of it.

Read it cause it was in my husband's library but unless you are doing serious research, I'm sure there are better books on the subject to read today.

[Cameron Starnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ideas, predictably terribly poly sci writing. An important book for anyone interested in politics or political theory.