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Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Speech and Rhetorical Studies

Conceptualizing And Measuring White House Staff Influence On Presidential Rhetoric, Justin Vaughn, José Villalobos Dec 2005

Conceptualizing And Measuring White House Staff Influence On Presidential Rhetoric, Justin Vaughn, José Villalobos

José D. Villalobos

Scholars have debated extensively the impact of presidential rhetoric on public opinion and congressional behavior, but have largely ignored the determinants of what the president actually says. This inattention is partly the result of the difficulty of acquiring systematic observations of presidential speech crafting. We devise a method of quantifying White House staff influence over the composition of rhetoric that captures the multistage negotiations between the president's speechwriters and his policy advisors and provides a framework for future studies on the determinants of presidential rhetoric. We employ our method to study influence over the writing of President George H. W. …


Demagoguery, Democratic Dissent, And ‘Re-Visioning’ Democracy, Steven Goldzwig Dec 2005

Demagoguery, Democratic Dissent, And ‘Re-Visioning’ Democracy, Steven Goldzwig

Steven Goldzwig

No abstract provided.


The Populist Chameleon: The People's Party, Huey Long, George Wallace, And The Populist Argumentative Frame, Michael J. Lee Dec 2005

The Populist Chameleon: The People's Party, Huey Long, George Wallace, And The Populist Argumentative Frame, Michael J. Lee

Michael J Lee

This essay argues that a sustained form can be located in the complicated history of populist rhetoric. Despite its chameleonic qualities, the advancement of populism is constituted by alterations in the focus and content, not the structure, of populist activism. This structure, or what I term its argumentative frame, positions a virtuous people against a powerful enemy and expresses disdain toward traditional forms of democratic deliberation and republican representation. I trace these themes through the rhetoric of the People's Party, Huey Long, and George Wallace. I conclude by analyzing the link between populism's persistence in U.S. history and the nation's …


The Blogosphere And The New Pamphleteers, Donald J. Kochan Dec 2005

The Blogosphere And The New Pamphleteers, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

The future of the free dissemination of information lies in the blog, some may say. The internet has entirely transformed how we receive and consume information. It’s the newest incarnation of information dissemination. From the insights of Alexis de Tocqueville, “Feelings and opinions are recruited, the heart is enlarged, and the human mind is developed only by the reciprocal influence of men upon one another.” Bloggers are a powerful force in the distribution of information and ideas and the creation of communities of conversation. Throughout history, the dissemination of information, news, opinions, and ideas has continuously transformed. In the 18th …