System justification in action : banal ideology and the rhetorical mobilisation of democracy in UK parliamentary debates concerning Brexit

Abstract

This thesis critically engages with System Justification Theory (SJT) and Banal Nationalism. SJT demonstrates that ideological beliefs motivate people to either preserve or challenge the status quo. There is however limited research considering how system justification can be understood as an observable process. System justification can instead be re-conceptualised from a relatively static cognitive-motivational construct to a dynamic process enacted in discourse. Banal Nationalism meanwhile demonstrates that individuals treat nation-states as natural entities around which to organise human affairs. The concept of banality is however not exclusive to nationalism because it has the potential to be applied to other forms of ideology. I aim to address this by showing that democracy is taken-for-granted as a natural feature of the UK’s political system. The data were drawn from the official Hansard records of UK House of Commons debates relating to the ‘European Union (Withdrawal) Act.’ To capture system justification in action, and show the banality of democracy, I used a discursive-rhetorical psychological framework to analyse 22 debates. The banality of democratic ideology is indicated by politicians treating democracy as a universal value which does not need to be justified. System justification in action was demonstrated when politicians from left- and right-wing parties constructed the status quo and depicted themselves as either preserving or challenging it to achieve rhetorical goals. By demonstrating both the banality of democracy and system justification in action, this thesis warns social psychologists against accepting discursive and rhetorical psychology’s seminal work on ideology without question.