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George W. Bush, Policy Selling And Agenda-Setting After 9/11, Gabriel Rubin
George W. Bush, Policy Selling And Agenda-Setting After 9/11, Gabriel Rubin
Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works
George W. Bush successfully set the agenda for an expansive, global war against terrorists after the 9/11 attacks. This agenda was not inevitable, it arose from an interpretation of events and of America’s adversaries that leaned on global conflict, cultural differences, and the presumption of evil intent. Bush’s speech-making successfully led to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, civil liberty-reducing legislation, and a large institutional edifice dedicated to counterterrorism. The themes Bush’s speeches evoked and the agendas and policies that these speeches set are covered in this chapter.
How Can Presidents Properly Calibrate The Terror Threat?, Gabriel Rubin
How Can Presidents Properly Calibrate The Terror Threat?, Gabriel Rubin
Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works
Presidential rhetoric has minimally changed from the narrative set by George W. Bush after the 9/11 attacks. Bush’s policies and agenda have also largely remained. This chapter provides proposals for change given the empirical and theoretical findings made in the book. The counterterrorist policy agenda needs to be narrowed and made more precise. The public needs to educate itself about the terror threat to understand that it is not a significant risk when weighed against others. Presidents need to be more careful with what words they use when describing America’s terrorist adversaries and with who they call terrorists. Recalibrating the …
Inflating The Terror Threat Since 2001, Gabriel Rubin
Inflating The Terror Threat Since 2001, Gabriel Rubin
Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works
Presidential rhetoric serves a critical interpretive role in defining events, particularly the threat of terrorism. As Richard Neustadt argues, the power of the presidency lies in the leader’s power to persuade. Presidents frame the terror threat by setting the country’s policy agenda. They then try to sell policies to Congress and the public through the pressure they can employ using their rhetoric and their office. This study, based on content analysis speech data ranging from September 2001 to February 2019, delves into why presidents speak the way they do about terrorism looking both at the content and frequency of their …