Engagement et non-engagement dans les appels à la majorité des politiciens

The aim of this paper is to examine the various degrees of commitment of appeals to the majority as employed by politicians and their effects on the outcome of the discussion. The focus lies on indicators and expressions which tone down the force with which something is asserted. Close attention will be paid to propositional attitude indicators (such as I think [this is what the majority wants from us], I have the impression that [this is what people want]) which are commonly employed by politicians in such a way that only a weak or no burden of proof is at issue. In this endeavour, examples from political interviews and parliamentary discussions will serve as empirical material.