Freiheit in Speech : The Tools used by Angela Merkel to Portray the Concept of Economic Freedom

The concept of freedom is perhaps the most relevant foundation of the
principles of the Social Market Economy (sme), which englobes individuality, solidarity and subsidiarity. The present study explors how the concept of freedom is portrayed in the speeches of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, through the analysis of 24 speeches over a 15 year period. The choice of the person is due to her position within the discursive community, she was the German chancellor from 2005 to 2021, and leader and chairwoman of the cdu – Christlich Demokratische Union – one of the most important advocates of the ideas of the sme. We aimed to analyse if the term freedom was implemented in accordance to the sme philosophy, as well as possible variations according to the context or the audience. Finally, we explored how the Ethos, Pathos and Logos – and respective persuasive techniques – were strategically used to convey the construct.