Introduction and Thesis
Although people have embraced the media “celebritisation” of some politicians like Trump, they should understand the formation and impact of celebrity politicians (Street, 2018, p. 4). It is essential to scrutinize the nature of Trump’s superstardom and celebrity activities as interfering with democratic governance.
Summary
Street starts by stating the media representation of political celebrities. He then states that he will focus on Donald Trump to exemplify how idol politicians are formed, stating that they should be portrayed as superstars and not leaders. Specifically, he uses the example where Trump remarked that he could kill in broad daylight and still maintain all his votes. The implication is that just as football and Hollywood celebrities, such politicians have die-hard fans. Past authors failed to look at celebrity politicians beyond categorization, and political involvement, while others were limited to the party system. The other concern is that people no longer focus on how Trump operates but on how journalists portray him. In turn, celebrity politicians could influence populism and make people view them as entertainers or icons to be adored because they have an insatiable need to conquer and attract attention.
Assessment of Article
Street uses news reports from journalists, scholarly articles, and books to provide textual support for his argument. For instance, he cites Mark Wheeler’s book as supporting his claim on the metamorphosis of celebrity politics. Using the book, he can persuade the readers to understand that such superstardom affects democracy. Notably, some of the textual evidence is direct quotes, while others are paraphrased with proper in-text and bibliography lists.
Moreover, Street uses logos and ethos to convince the readers to adopt his argument. Specifically, the author supports the thesis by providing factual data with citations for the readers to assess. For example, he quotes Trump’s statement that other politicians bemoan the “rise of celebrity culture” because, unlike him, they are on a payroll (Street, 2019, p.6-7). Using direct quotes offers logical facts and provokes the reader to emotionally tune to the author’s perspective. Thus, both the approach of using textual evidence and rhetorical appeals is effective in convincing the readers.
However, the author has a logical inconsistency as he believes that the celebrification of Trump will ultimately change the political outlook of the county. There is also overgeneralization where the case of Trump is taken to represent that of all the other celebrity governors. The primary weakness of the article is that it fails to give evidence that the portrayal of superstar politicians is affecting the rule of the people since the majority still wins. Other than that, the paper presents a strong argument, cites credible sources, and has well-articulated arguments that are systematically organized.
Conclusion
Overall, the article effectively defines celebrity politicians and provides the possible implications for democratic leadership. Readers are significantly enlightened on the topic of celebrity politicians. Street provides proper definitions, explanations, and examples to define vocabularies; hence, deepening insights on the subject. Therefore, political analysts, journalists, civic students, and politicians will benefit from reading the article. The read-up will open their mind to understanding the definition, metamorphosis, and possible impact of political celebrities. Remarkably, the article challenges journalists to check on their role in advancing the stardom of politicians so that they present unbiased news. In sum, the article is educative on the topic. Also, the arguments are well articulated to convince the readers that there is a need to challenge the notion of celebrity politics.
Reference
Street, J. (2018). What is Donald Trump? Forms of ‘Celebrity’ in celebrity politics. Political Studies Review, 17(1), 3-13.