Therefore, decisions in a democracy will reflect the interests of the majority of the people
By contrast, inductive reasoning makes probable conclusions from examples or pieces of evidence.
Democracy is good for the overall success of a country; many of the most powerful and prosperous nations in the world are ruled by democratic governments.
Such reasoning is always conclusive in proportion to how representative the examples is. In this case, our statement would be much more compelling if we could say that all of the most powerful and prosperous nations in the world were democracies. If we only reason from the example of one particularly country, or if we reason from many examples but must admit exceptions, then our argument is weaker.
The second artistic mode of appeal is ethos, the "ethical appeal," which is based on establishing the credibility of the speaker or write (to include both, we may speak of the "rhetor"). Ethos is often deployed indirectly:
In fifty years of studying the governments of nations on every continent, I have found that the more democratic the government, the happier the people.
At face value, this is an example of logos: an inductive claim about happiness based on examples from every continent. It also, however, serves subtly to remind the audience of the rhetor's expertise. A rhetor may establish ethos through actions as simple as using technical terms from a particular field to imply his or her knowledge of it.
The third mode of appeal is pathos, the appeal to the audience's emotions. These can be positive emotions, like pride or hope, or negative ones, like fear or hatred.
What is the alternative to democracy? Every man, woman, and child cowering in terror under the brutal rule of another Hitler, another Stalin! Not one home will be safe from the power of the State!
These modes of appeal are artistic in the sense that they involve an art that can be learned; "non-artistic" means of persuasion, by contrast, include things that do not rely on the skill of the rhetor, like cited sources, statistics, testimony, and proverbial wisdom. Of course, you'll probably need to mix in a little of the artistic modes in the process of using these, too; you'll need a little logos in framing and interpreting facts, and maybe a little pathos in how you present moving testimony from a witness.
The nature of the thesis will suggest the nature of your composition and the kinds of persuasion it should employ.
