New notions of soft power: Impact rhetoric in mega-event bid documents

Abstract

This viewpoint addresses notions of impact and soft power. Two bidding documents submitted in 2018 by Morocco and a joint bid by Canada, Mexico, and the United States are explored, focusing specifically on language used when discuss the term “impact.” Soft power is important to consider and use as a framework for interpretation because bidding for events involves the ability to persuade and use power as a medium to showcase the ability to host. Both bid proposals place less attention on economic impact, and emphasize the social and environmental impact that these events will have. Each bid document had a defined statement on legacy, but legacy did not dominate either bid as both put focus on how they would create impact in the present time. This approach is something that brings people into the directions of the bid, in terms of how social, economic, or environmental impact would be achieved, and directives positioned how they would make people aware of impact.