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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Five Trends In Presidential Rhetoric: An Analysis Of Rhetoric From George Washington To Bill Clinton, Elvin T. Lim
Five Trends In Presidential Rhetoric: An Analysis Of Rhetoric From George Washington To Bill Clinton, Elvin T. Lim
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Several political scientists have argued that the presidential recourse to public rhetoric as a mode of political influence in the twentieth century represents a significant departure from a pre-twentieth-century institutional norm where “going public” was both rare and frowned upon. This article looks specifically at the changes in the substance of rhetoric that have accompanied this alleged institutional transformation. Applying computer-assisted content analysis to all the inaugural addresses and annual messages delivered between 1789 and 2000, the author identifies and explores five significant changes in twentieth-century presidential rhetoric that would qualifiedly support the thesis of institutional transformation in its rhetorical …
The American People In Crisis: A Content Analysis, Roderick P. Hart, Sharon E. Jarvis, Elvin T. Lim
The American People In Crisis: A Content Analysis, Roderick P. Hart, Sharon E. Jarvis, Elvin T. Lim
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This study examines how images of the American electorate were deployed after the11 September 2001 terrorism incident and during the Clinton impeachment. Transcripts of congressional proceedings, news coverage, and presidential campaign addresses were analyzed to determine how the phrase the American people was used during these two crises and in unrelated presidential campaign speeches. The analysis considered the roles, actions, qualities, and circumstances ascribed to the people, as well as the time orientation and the forces aligned against the people. The results show that (1) relative to presidential campaign rhetoric, both crises resulted in greater concentration on the electorate; (2) …