Political persuasion in international affairs: A computational sociolinguistic inquiry utilizing historical analysis of US Congressional rhetoric from 1873 to 2017

Negative sentiment, when used in the context of persuasion, can play a significant role in the effectiveness of spoken rhetoric. In this paper, sentiment analysis of publicly delivered Congressional speeches on relevant foreign policy legislation and events will be the center of exploration, evaluated through historical trends of that corresponding period. This evaluation element will be key in determining whether or not negative sentiments were successful and how overall sentiment in a speech evolved over one hundred and fifty years through computational sociolinguistic analysis. The paper explores the increase in negative sentiment by drastic global events, illustrating how negative sentiment became a necessity for significant foreign policy action.