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in this article, conducted from the point of view of the philosophy of education, we will focus on « influencers » and more globally on people broadcasting tutorials, podcasts and other thematic presentations of contents on online platforms. These contents seem to constitute nowadays online support resources for individual autonomies that are both singular and sustainable. We first study the motivations of the people creating these contents and the boundaries between professional and amateur approaches in this field (1). We then seek to understand what needs and desires inherent to the hypermodern human condition correspond to the online quest for such resources (2). On these bases, we lay down some markers for a thought of the way in which these proposals of influences can contribute to make the individuals durably authors of their singular autonomies (3). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to demonstrate the existence of processes of constructing discursive authority in the social (or participative) web. To accomplish this, we will first provide a theoretical overview of the concept of authority, which will enable us to distinguish between its defining elements and its situational manifestations. Then, we will examine three non-exhaustive but prototypical examples of communication on collaborative web platforms to show how certain linguistic-discursive and technological characteristics of these environments facilitate the creation of a discourse marked by trust and, as a result, authoritative for different user communities. Our analyses will start from an examination of internet memes, where both certain dissemination logics and technoenunciative characteristics reveal the persistence of discourse authorization mechanisms that lie somewhere between technological parameters and enunciative postures. Then, we will illustrate the strategies used by users, who can be regarded as scientific "influencers" on Twitter, to establish their legitimacy and online credibility. Finally, we will look at a collaborative creative writing project on Twitter ("Bowary") to explore the relationships between the notion of authority and this new form of shared authorship online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dealing with counter-revolution is a tricky business. For while the word "counter-revolution" signifies opposition to revolution, it is first important to get to grips with the principles of revolution. And while principles are ideas, their application and implementation presuppose a terrain capable of receiving them - in other words, a society ready for revolution. It's in this sense that we need to think about a counter-revolution. It's one thing to know the contours and guiding ideas, but quite another to be able to apply and realize them in a society. This is where a good counter-revolution, like a revolution, must unite the philosopher and the politician, the man of ideas and the man of realizations.

This essay presents a critical reading of La nuova democrazia diretta, the composition published by Giuseppe Capograssi in 1922, when he was 33 years old, a few months before the march on Rome. We want to reflect on some still corrent issues: on the great leaders, for example, if they are needed or not for the survival of modern democracies. We want to reflect on some concepts: authority and sovereignty. We also intend to analyze the notions of mass and democracy, how they have been placed in the historical-cultural framework, destabilizing the political picture as well as the legal context about the relationship between State and citizens.

Authority is suspect in a democracy. In this article we show what problems this creates in the field of education. Authority is also lost in religion. Religious and educational authority has lost its place, especially in the process of digitalization. The digital environment offers freedom of choice and seemingly democratic use. However, we will show how new forms of authority are also emerging in this environment, which are largely hidden and therefore much more dangerous. The positioning of so-called algorithmic authority leads us to look for appropriate responses for the field of education and proclamation, as it turns out that this is a very similar way of dealing with authority. The approach offered by P. Freire, through the development of a critical consciousness in a concrete environment and the positioning of the teacher as a prophet, combines solutions for the empowerment of modern man in both the religious and educational fields.

this article focuses on the ethics of education and training, from an interdisciplinary perspective that is itself structurally embedded in the multi-referential nature of the education and training sciences. We draw on Daniel Sibony's conceptualization of the in-between as a professional position in education and training to consider ways of reconciling educational and training support and proximity with the realities of physical distance in digital interventions, all in an ethical way. We discuss the conditions under which support can be successfully incorporated into distance learning (1), dialecticize presence and digital technology in education and training (2), and finally lay some groundwork for an ethics of benevolent digital support, based on the concept of authority and its mutations in hypermodern democracies (3). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Universitatis Lodziensis: Folia Litteraria Romanica is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Lodzkiego and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Savoirs En Prisme is the property of Universitaires de Reims and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Censorship and self-censorship in translation have been associated with oppressive regimes, although they are encountered in democratic systems as well. The agents and mechanisms behind these phenomena play a key part in spreading a certain ideology, which serves the interests of the ones in positions of power, be it political, economic or religious. The main purposes of this article are to analyse the criteria of censorship in translation, to illustrate the strategies used for censoring the potentially “dangerous” texts, to present case studies inspired by the realities of communist Romania and the contemporary American society, and to give examples of censorship agents, objectives and techniques.

Faced with an increasingly challenging environment, journalists and news organizations are looking to investigative journalism as a symbolic resource to assert their professionalism. However, while the literature recognizes a strong link between authority and professionalism on the one hand, and investigative journalism and professionalism on the other, it has overlooked how investigative journalism itself can be used to establish authority. This paper aims to fill this gap by exploring how investigative pieces contribute to the legitimization of journalists in French-speaking Switzerland. To answer this question, we conducted a thematic and discursive qualitative analysis of 186 investigative pieces to examine identity markers that present journalists as particularly legitimate knowledge producers. Our findings show how print journalists perform an investigative identity throughout their texts. This includes playing a watchdog role, demonstrating an “investigative mindset,” claiming specialized skills, and / or highlighting their thorough verification procedure. By employing these strategies, investigative journalists seek recognition based on their social role, their individual traits, their specialized skills, and / or their incontrovertible knowledge claims. We analyze these four identity markers as strategic devices for claiming special authority within the journalistic profession.

Copyright of Vie et Sciences de l'Entreprise is the property of ANDESE and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract This essay proposes an interpretation of the relationship between law, violence, and justice based on Walter Benjamin’s work ‘Critique of Violence.’ I argue that, in the essay, the three terms are sustained by an underlying notion of authority, which, according to Benjamin, has a mythical character. This is shown by an interpretation of how law’s authority is linked to its mythical foundation. Then, by analysing Western mythology and how the notion of authority in our tradition is linked to the Roman figures of Romulus and Numa, I propose a new interpretation of the relationship between law and myth in Benjamin’s text, showing how law also depends on a mythical justice and how the critique of violence must also involve a critique of justice. I end the paper by tracing a parallel between Benjamin’s divine violence and what could be termed divine justice.

Common law as something accepted by the rule of wisdom found in the very self of humans formed the earliest type of the legal systems of societies. In most of the legal systems of the world, common law is known as one of the most important resources and is of high significance. Most of the Islamic jurisprudents agree on the authority of common law as an independent or dependent reason or proof. In this regard, the jurisprudents have referred to reasons of the Book (Holy Quran), the Tradition (Sunna), and wisdom. Family laws are included as the most potential fields for the common law to play a significant role in updating the rules and placing them in the right path of recognizing the required components. Thus, by applying a descriptive-analytical method, the present study attempts at studying the function of common law in laws related to the family through investigating the nature, range of inclusion, and legitimacy of common law among the jurisprudents of different Islamic schools and sects as well as studying the opponents’ reasons for its documentary authority

The article presents the discussion on various genres in the attempt for gaining recognition as a gifted writer and literary authority. Topics include capitalizing on the popularity of allegorical novels, which had become a source of entertainment in social circles; and proper dramatic structure and adherence to classical rules, positioning himself as an authority on theatrical artistry.

The dynamics of professionalization of the heads of Catholic educational establishments (CESP) (Private education under contract in France) have led them for several years to take charge of multi-site groupings. In the first degree, this translates into the establishment of CESP in several schools in the same geographical entity. Therefore, unable to be in the various places at the same time, the CESPs organize, to make up for their absence, the operation and life of the schools, relying on the human resources of each place. The subsidiarity/delegation complementarity then becomes the central principle of the governance and managerial action of the CESP. The implementation of this principle produces a systemic set of adjustments made at different scales, from individual action to the adjustments instructed in each school to the institutional action of the adjustments instructed by the CESPs in networks and by the supervisory authorities which oversee it. become a political strategy. Our study reports, from the comments of the actors, the effects of some adjustments made at different levels of the design and implementation of this multisite governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Annales: Histoire, Sciences Sociales is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article deals with three texts that Étienne Pasquier devoted to Roman law in the second edition of his collection of Lettres (1619), one to the authority of jurisconsults, the other two to the origins of the “légitime”. We propose to read in these little explored texts a redefinition of the authority of the jurisconsult, in French law as well as in Roman law, starting from the initial refusal of the idea that the jurist’s "opinions" have the force of law. In contrast to this idea, a figure embodied by the author himself appears : a "private" jurisconsult, who has all the more authority as he relates without personal ambition to the public good.

The article deals with the problem of authority in the fundamental aspects of the philosophy of dialogue, which in the I-You relationship acquires a specific meaning. The dialogical plane emphasizes the tension between the subjects, showing the dynamics of the meeting as well as its specific movement and variability. The concept of Martin Buber and Józef Tischner was recalled, opening a new discourse on the fundamental role, meaning and sense of authority today. Buber says that the dialogue itself appears as relation of beings, while Tischner shows the meeting as an event in which the agathological horizon of good and evil is present, which in both concepts puts a new light on the problem of authority. Authority not only internally assumes turning “to” someone/ the Other, but also assumes being “for” someone/ the Other and towards someone/ the Other.

Repeated calls for greater autonomy at work are becoming ever louder, yet in concrete terms these calls do not always say what (or whom) autonomy is supposed to serve. Taking the results of a participatory intervention that led to a profound transformation in the organization of a social housing agency, this article attempts to provide answers to these questions. It takes as its starting point the notion of authority, which is presented not through its classical meaning (attached to the legitimate power someone exercises over others) but through the object that a group of actors is able to identify as “authoritative” within their common activity, guiding it. We hypothesize that economy of service has contributed to shifting this “common object of work” towards a service relationship issue that the guidelines produced by the organization can never fully predict. The majority of business organizations have however mostly remained attached to a structure inherited from industry and aimed at strict compliance with prescribed rules. From then on, a gap has been established between the system of formal authority and the “common object of work” supposed to be authoritative for the actors of the system. Supporting companies in their organizational transformation therefore means knowing how to “re-adjust” the system of authority to “what is now authoritative”. In the social housing agency, the emergence of an organizational model “built by semi-autonomous teams” to better respond to the issue of providing a service to tenants can be interpreted as a response to this adjustment issue. That autonomy is called upon on this occasion is surely no coincidence. However, it does not appear here to be the response to a desire for individual autonomy or as an end in itself (as managerial literature often suggests) but rather as collective autonomy on the one hand, as a means of greater cooperation on the other, with the aim of promoting the relevance of the always unique responses to be provided to the beneficiaries. This “use” of autonomy makes it possible to better understand, in this case, for what and for whom it is used. In concrete terms.

The article presents the discussion on Robert IV de Boves passed away without any children. Topics include marriage connected the history of Boves to the ducal family of Lorraine and the counts of Vaudémont, who were lords of the Empire and gradually forged a closer relationship with the Capetian monarchy; and rights in the lordship, signaling ongoing disputes and the shifting dynamics of authority in the region.

Repeated calls for greater autonomy at work are becoming ever louder, yet in concrete terms these calls do not always say what (or whom) autonomy is supposed to serve. Taking the results of a participatory intervention that led to a profound transformation in the organization of a social housing agency, this article attempts to provide answers to these questions. It takes as its starting point the notion of authority, which is presented not through its classical meaning (attached to the legitimate power someone exercises over others) but through the object that a group of actors is able to identify as "authoritative" within their common activity, guiding it. We hypothesize that economy of service has contributed to shifting this "common object of work" towards a service relationship issue that the guidelines produced by the organization can never fully predict. The majority of business organizations have however mostly remained attached to a structure inherited from industry and aimed at strict compliance with prescribed rules. From then on, a gap has been established between the system of formal authority and the "common object of work" supposed to be authoritative for the actors of the system. Supporting companies in their organizational transformation therefore means knowing how to "re-adjust" the system of authority to "what is now authoritative". In the social housing agency, the emergence of an organizational model "built by semi-autonomous teams" to better respond to the issue of providing a service to tenants can be interpreted as a response to this adjustment issue. That autonomy is called upon on this occasion is surely no coincidence. However, it does not appear here to be the response to a desire for individual autonomy or as an end in itself (as managerial literature often suggests) but rather as collective autonomy on the one hand, as a means of greater cooperation on the other, with the aim of promoting the relevance of the always unique responses to be provided to the beneficiaries. This "use" of autonomy makes it possible to better understand, in this case, for what and for whom it is used. In concrete terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Synergies Inde is the property of GERFLINT (Groupe d'Etudes et de Recherches pour le Francais Langue Internationale) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Lusofona de Educacao is the property of Universidade Lusofona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, CEIEF and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Lusofona de Educacao is the property of Universidade Lusofona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, CEIEF and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Considered a being who "lacks physical and intellectual maturity," the child needs special protection and special care. And it is in his family setting, a natural living environment, that he has the best chance of developing harmoniously. Until the end of the 19th century, the family was a private space obeying its internal laws and the State prohibited itself from entering the doors of the house subject to the power of the father, because this was at the very foundation. of social order. Although the Civil Code of 1804 consecrated an absolutism of paternal power, without however going as far as a right of life or death over the child, from the 19th century, a movement in favor of the child developed. which results in a rise in the power of the State and a decline in the power of the father. If the father owes assistance and protection to the child, the fact remains that the latter owes him honor and obedience. And article 371 of the Napoleon Code is there to remind him of this.

This article studies the features of the editor-author function specific to scholarly editions, as well as the evolution of this function in digital scholarly editions. The advent of digital editions introduces a collective authorial body, which we analyse here. The evolution of the author function also deeply renews the way information becomes a discourse, both in its form and in the choice or the hierarchy of the contents made available. At the same time this modifies the process by which the authority of an edition is recognised, as well as the modalities of its scientific evaluation. This article thus explores the changes of the critical edition in the digital field.

The French philosopher Yves R. Simon, who was a lecturer from 1938 at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, published, on the one hand, Nature and Functions of Authority (1940) and, on the other hand, several writings in English about political philosophy (“Liberty and Authority”; “Thomism and Democracy”; “Beyond the Crisis of Liberalism”) in 1941-1942. During the Second World War, as he was worrying like other European intellectuals about France’s situation under the Vichy regime, Yves R. Simon wrote three essays in French over the 1941-1945 period, so as to deliver intellectual weapons to the Resistance. These essays were soon translated into English (The Road to Vichy: 1918-1938; The March to Liberation; Community of the Free). Though Jacques Maritain dubbed him “France’s fellow from America,” his audience has remained almost exclusively based on the US side of the Atlantic.

Copyright of Nouvelles Perspectives en Sciences Sociales is the property of Editions Prise de parole and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

An in-depth study on the functioning of schools in the Democratic Republic of Congo reveals a certain indiscipline to varying degrees to such an extent that this situation negatively influences the teaching-learning process. In this study, we aim to identify the factors undermining the education authority in a school learning situation in schools in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This paper leads to some concrete proposals for improving the teachinglearning process by re-establishing the educational authority, particularly the viable relation between teacher and pupil.

"Caring for Authority in Education in Faith in the Face of Some Contemporary Cultural Challenges”: The author tries to answer the question: What should be done in the contemporary socio-cultural context to help educators in faith retain their authority? Firstly, he presents the classical understanding of authority. Secondly, he describes contemporary cultural challenges to authority in education. Thirdly, he analyzes specific qualities of educators in religious faith.

Abstract: This article uses the sociopolitical fact of Benin Republic’s National Conference of the Living Forces of February 1990 to analyze the contribution of language from a pragmatic perspective. The analysis carried out for this purpose fits both in the theoretical framework of Austin’s (1962) work related to the conditions of performativity of speech acts and aspects of interpersonal relations. The corpus of this study is composed of excerpts from the closing addresses of the conference as delivered by General Mathieu Kérékou, Bishop Isidore de SOUZA, and the general reporter Albert TEVOEDJRE. This corpus has been instrumental in examining the contribution of language to the success of the conference. The study highlighted the social reality channel and the meaning encoding power of language through a pragmatic analysis. The analyzes and interpretations carried out thus made it possible to arrive at three major results, namely: 1the weakening of Benin political authority due to speech acts non-performance, 2the feature of durability attached to the establishment as well as the recognition of authority and 3the usefulness of the evocation of a supreme being in situations of confidence crisis affecting the achievement of speech acts.

Abstract: The paranormal is all about apparitions that interact occasionally in the course of events amongst people. It is intensely exploited in Shakespeare’s tragedies as a means to reveal the mystical aspects of life and especially rulers’ lives. This article aims at approaching from the semiotic perspective the paranormal in Julius Caesar and Macbeth as Shakespeare’s art of uncovering the mystical aspect of life and especially that of the political authorities so as to raise awareness upon the issue of dark agents and the insensitivity of man towards the premonitory messages of nature. This study elaborates on the depiction of the paranormal in both tragedies by Shakespeare in order to understand the metaphysical or the mystical facet of political power through the interference of the witches which has led to the regicide in Macbeth, and the value of the messages of the Soothsayer and that of nature around the murder of Caesar in Julius Caesar. Whence it holds that a careful observation of nature and open-mindedness could profit people far beyond greed, boldness and the trust in magic.

This contribution has two objectives. On the one hand, it considers the study of trust relationships towards the “non-human agents” that are the contemporary technological tools (algorithms and data that define artificial intelligence); on the other hand, it undertakes to conceptualize the authority that these tools are acquiring. The starting point is that the contemporary deployment of AI relies on forms of trust in machines shared between their designers and users, who appear to be the “cement” of the uses that guarantee the efficiency of the machines. However, this trust is less directed towards tools considered as neutral than towards personalized or even personified entities. Artificial intelligences, analyzed in the context of their uses, are already presented as something other than neutral instruments. Although still poorly qualified ontologically, they are already no longer simple tools, but agents. Through the services they render and the influence they already exert on behaviors, they acquire a real action that needs to be documented and conceptualized. This approach in political philosophy wants to examine the form of authority thus generated, notably by imagining experimental devices to test the hypotheses.

The concept of agency was developed and refined in the common law system and, thereafter, imported in the continental civil law system where was confronted with the classic institution of the mandate, based on the representation principle. The modern context of the commerce globalisation and the need to assimilate legal instruments that are often used in the international trade, determined the global and European lawmakers to seek a proper harmonised regulation for the agency contract. Romania produced a first regulation of agency through Law 509/2002 regarding the permanent commercial agents and, thereafter, continued the process through the incorporation of the subject in the Civil Code. This paper examines the conformity of the European and Romanian regulations regarding the agency with the initial concept that, purportedly, inspired the afore said lawmakers.

Due to the expansion of social media and the growing credibility gap of academic institutions, new forms of authority have emerged. In the liberalized language market, each individual tries to build his/her own credibility and personal authority. One of the rhetoric tools for this project is the removal of an interlocutor’s verbal authority. With this new rhetoric device, the speaker accuses his/her interlocutor of not being the author of one’s own speech, of one’s own thought. Relieving someone of one’s personal verbal authority is a new form of violence in verbal interactions, a way to forcibly silence other speakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article proposes a reflection on the forms of manifestation of authority and power (of a theological, ecclesiastical and spiritual type) in the Christian-Orthodox theological discourse written in French. Thus, our analysis focuses on examples of statements that criticise and denounce some liturgical practices, Eucharistic and ecclesiological interpretations inconsistent with the Tradition of the Orthodox Church and patristic writings, excerpts from fundamental works of the greatest contemporary French Orthodox theologians - Archimandrite Father Placide Deseille and professor Jean-Claude Larchet. The purpose of exercising this form of authority is the normative discursive efficiency of the statements of their authors, which consists in the prescriptive delimitation of a canonical framework of all components of the Christian-Orthodox theological type of discourse, in French language and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of XVIIe Siècle is the property of Presses Universitaires de France and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

How can a political leader impose unusual demands in a democracy in the face of Covid-19 when he was already arousing a great deal of mistrust, long before this crisis, because of a distorted image that undermines his legitimacy and authority in the public sphere? This article identifies the discursive steps taken by the French President to repair his image in his first two addresses on the Coronavirus. It shows that his strategies of image repair are indirect and differ from those listed on the subject in scholarly literature. Emmanuel Macron’s objective is to strengthen his weakened legitimacy and build his position of authority. These two concepts are clearly distinguished in the analysis proposed here and are important axes for the re-elaboration of the President’s ethos, whose objective is to increase the confidence of the French in his leadership and in the measures announced to stem the pandemic.

We analyze Belgian PM Sophie Wilmès first three speeches related to the Covid restrictions in March 2020 as well as their press coverage. The rhetorical strategies deployed to foster authority and legitimacy in times of crisis are examined in the context of Belgium’s political culture of pragmatic realism in the face of a divided federal polity. Wilmès constructs a united collective ethos by displaying a shared authority at the federal and decision-making level, expressing empathy with the population, and appealing to solidarity. She avoids pathos and the war metaphor, uses rational arguments, and constructs a complex audience.

This article examines the discursive and argumentative procedures tinged with populism by which Donald Trump, who goes against the health policy adopted by most democratic countries against Covid-19, tries to legitimate his decisions and present them as complying with the public good. We analyze the way in which the address to the nation of the United States leader endeavors to reaffirm his legitimacy as incumbent president weakened by recent attempts at impeachment, and to strengthen the authority of his person in view of the forthcoming elections. From this perspective, we attempt to identify the discursive strategies that fall under the rubric of national-populism and the shared values that underlie them, examining how they fit into the overall argumentation used to achieve the president-candidate’s persuasive ends.

This article explores the discursive and argumentative procedures that build the legitimacy and authority of Chancellor Angela Merkel in her first TV address on Covid-19. Establishing a necessary distinction in these two correlated and often confused notions, the analysis uncovers a global “rhetoric of the coronavirus”: staging of institutional legitimacy reinforced by the unity of the rulers (an all-encompassing “we”) and building of authority by the argument of epistemic authority (experts); justification of anti-Covid measures by pragmatic arguments or by historical examples; construction of an ethos that ensures credibility. The analysis also reveals procedures specific to emergency situations: enhancement of an absolute and illusory political consensus, at the expense of open democratic deliberation; reduction of scientific discourse to the discourse of experts likely to provide certainty to decision-makers, transformed into managers; calls on the public to accept of its own free will measures already enacted. Finally, the article highlights the specificities of Merkel's speech on this occasion: the meta-discourse that tackles head-on the relationship to democracy, but also to argumentation, the insistence on human values considered superior to the democratic values violated, the posture of proximity supposed to contribute to moral legitimation and to strengthen the authority of the Chancellor. The ethical dimension of the discourse is all the more salient because it relies heavily on pragmatic arguments. Another characteristic of Angela Merkel’s singular self-presentation is the confession of her own fragility, the image of a sensitive woman who unites reason and feeling, the emphasis on an ethic strongly imbued with affectivity that gives her a very human accent and calls for “solidary action” rather than for mere obedience.

We analyze Belgian PM Sophie Wilmès’ first three speeches related to the Covid-19 restrictions in March 2020 as well as their press coverage. The rhetorical strategies deployed to foster authority and legitimacy in times of crisis are examined in the context of Belgium’s political culture of pragmatic realism in the face of a divided federal polity. Wilmès constructs a united collective ethos by displaying a shared authority at the federal and decision-making level, expressing empathy with the population, and appealing to solidarity. She avoids pathos and the war metaphor, uses rational arguments, and constructs a complex audience.

This article aims to analyze the first address to the Nation of the Argentinian President Alberto Fernández dealing with the health crisis of the Covid-19. At the time of the emergence of the virus, Fernández was new to his duties. The population of Argentina, a country that lives in an almost constant economic, social and political instability, is particularly suspicious of politicians and institutions. Even if the legitimacy of the new president was conferred upon him by a democratic election, he had to build a trust-inspiring discourse in order to strengthen the citizens’ belief in the legitimacy of the institutions as well as of the elect president, and to construct an authority allowing him to impose measures against the virus without resorting to violence. The notions of trust, legitimacy and authority are the pillars of this analysis which shows how they are discursively constructed and woven in the texture of Fernández’s address at the very beginning of an unprecedented world sanitary crisis.

This article examines the way the Brazilian President J. Bolsonaro reinforces his legitimacy and builds his authority in a populist discourse of a polemical type, gratifying for himself while attacking his adversaries. To do so, he tries to justify his refusal of health measures and at the same time to reinforce his ethos as a strong leader and a Savior, in two major national speeches as well as in his reactions to the attacks. The argumentative analysis shows how his efforts collided with and responded to a counter-discourse that developed into a public controversy. The reception of his speech shows the attacks against his person and his discourse which he must confront to restore his legitimacy and rebuild his authority.

This article aims to analyze the first address to the Nation of the Argentinian President Alberto Fernández dealing with the health crisis of the Covid-19. At the time of the emergence of the virus, Fernández was new to his duties. The population of Argentina, a country that lives in an almost constant economic, social and political instability, is particularly suspicious of politicians and institutions. Even if the legitimacy of the new president was conferred upon him by a democratic election, he had to build a trust-inspiring discourse in order to strengthen the citizens’ belief in the legitimacy of the institutions as well as of the elect president, and to construct an authority allowing him to impose measures against the virus without resorting to violence. The notions of trust, legitimacy and authority are the pillars of this analysis which shows how they are discursively constructed and woven in the texture of Fernández’s address at the very beginning of an unprecedented world sanitary crisis.

This article examines the construction of political legitimacy and authority in the discourses of democratic leaders by attempting to distinguish between two often confused notions, and to identify the discursive and argumentative procedures that put them in place. It takes stock of a body of work devoted to the subject and proposes an original approach that emphasizes the centrality of argumentation in the process of legitimation and the construction of a leader’s authority. Using the example of the first speeches of the heads of state at the time of the Covid-19 crisis, it proposes an analytical framework that can account for discursive and argumentative operations and their socio-political stakes in context.