Governance in the Digital Sphere: A Speech Act Analysis of Presidential State of the Nation Addresses

Abstract

As technology continues to shape the modern world, political speeches are no longer confined to podiums but are shared and have far-reaching consequences in the online world. This research analyzes the language of Duterte’s State of the Nation Addresses (SONAs) to understand the speech acts within them and to show how political power is exercised through language in digitally mediated contexts. It is based on speech act theory and employs a qualitative-descriptive design, analyzing the SONAs to identify communicative functions and patterns of language use to reveal linguistic governance. The analysis brought to light seven speech acts: Assertive, Directive, Commissive, Expressive, Declarative, Quotational, and Poetic. Assertive Acts were most prevalent during the 2019 SONA with a total of 68 occurrences, followed by other forms of lesser prominence such as Commissive (n=33), Directive (n=21), Expressive (n=20), with even lower counts of Declarative (n=3), Quotational (n=4), and Poetic (n=1). Observing the 2020 SONA also shows prominence of Assertive Acts (n=84). Notable were also instances of Directive (n=40), and other lesser forms such as Commissive (n=15), Expressive (n=16), Declarative (n=6), Quotational (n=1), and Poetic (n=1). The prominence of both assertive and directive types indicates the president's focus on performative governance: commanding political power, enforcing state narratives and shaping public feelings through speeches. Given that these addresses are issued and consumed extensively online, their rhetorical techniques enhance digital governance through steering public discourse and the interpretation of policies, creating a collective regard towards them. This highlights the importance of speech acts in analyzing political language as a tool for governing within the digitally connected public sphere.