Transitivity and Power in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Debate: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

The plan of research is to analyse a political debate that held in United States of America. U.S. Presidential Debate held between two political figures namely Donald Trump and Kamala Harris has been chosen for the purpose. Systems Functional Linguistics of Halliday has been chosen as a frame of study to discover the processes used by the politician in order to convince the public and dominate the opponents, exploiting the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), particularly Fairclough’s three-dimensional theory. Specifically, it will examine the transitivity processes—material, mental, relational, and verbal—employed by the candidates to represent participants, actions, and relationships in the debate. The primary objectives are to analyze the transitivity choices made by the candidates, measure how these picks establish political power and agency, and investigate how they reflect implicit ideological positions. Moreover, the research will assess how Fairclough’s model unfolds power structures and manipulative techniques in the candidates’ discourse. This study is important in raising the understanding of political discourse, power relations, and ideological manipulation in the framework of electoral communication, with allegations for linguistics, political communication, and media literacy. Through this study, the part of language in the development of political philosophies and the strategies used in political activities will be critically observed, contributing cherished insights to the field of discourse analysis and political statements.