Meaning
Political language that seems innocuous to the general audience but carries a targeted secondary message to a particular group, usually one with controversial or bigoted views. The metaphor is of a high-pitched whistle only dogs can hear: one statement, two audiences. Pejorative and analytically contested; calling something a dog whistle asserts hidden intent. Regional use: General English; prominent in Australian, British and American political commentary.
Origin
The literal dog whistle dates to the early 1800s. The political metaphor's best-documented root is in opinion polling: Washington Post polling director Richard Morin described the 'Dog Whistle Effect' in 1988, where subtle wording shifts let respondents hear something researchers did not, and William Safire credited pollsters as the likely source of the political usage. The term entered Australian politics in the mid-1990s, frequently applied to Prime Minister John Howard's coded language on immigration, and strategist Lynton Crosby carried it to the UK in the Conservatives' 2005 campaign, whose 'Are you thinking what we're thinking?' slogan Goodin called the classic case. No single coiner is identified.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- dog-whistle politics
- dog-whistling
- to dog whistle
Usage Examples
- The advert's talk of 'neighbourhood character' functioned as a dog whistle, critics said.
- Dog-whistle messaging lets a candidate court uneasy voters while keeping formal deniability.
- Whether a phrase is a dog whistle ultimately depends on what its intended audience hears in it.