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Full-Text Articles in Speech and Rhetorical Studies

Staff Of The People? Assessing Progress In Descriptive Representation Under The Obama Administration, José D. Villalobos Nov 2011

Staff Of The People? Assessing Progress In Descriptive Representation Under The Obama Administration, José D. Villalobos

José D. Villalobos

Over the past few decades, presidents have made some increasingly noticeable efforts to fill their administrations with a higher number of minorities. Though not yet fully representative of the general public, such advances in descriptive representation are a sign of progressive change occurring within the executive branch, with positive potential implications for the state of representative democracy and public policy. In this article, I survey the current state of descriptive representation under the Obama presidency and the extent to which the president’s policy agenda has substantively addressed the needs of historically underrepresented groups. Descriptively, I find that President Barack Obama …


Ondervraging Van Irakese En Afghaanse Insurgents: De Nederlandse Ervaringen, George Dimitriu Nov 2011

Ondervraging Van Irakese En Afghaanse Insurgents: De Nederlandse Ervaringen, George Dimitriu

George Dimitriu

Gedurende de afgelopen jaren is de Nederlandse Krijgsmacht een aantal jaren actief geweest in Irak en Afghanistan waarbij honderden mensen gevangen zijn genomen en zijn ondervraagd. In tegenstelling tot veel andere landen die ook in Irak en Afghanistan actief zijn of waren, zoals de Verenigde Staten, Groot-Brittannië, Spanje en Canada, is Nederland tot op heden gevrijwaard gebleven van een groot martelschandaal of een binnenlandse discussie. Afgezien van een incident in 2006 toen krantenkoppen Nederlanders betichtten van marteling tijdens de missie in Irak, is er maar weinig voorgevallen. Bovendien luwde de ophef over het vermeende martelincident in Irak al snel. Hoe …


De Missie In Uruzgan Als Strategisch Narratief, George Dimitriu, Beatrice De Graaf Nov 2011

De Missie In Uruzgan Als Strategisch Narratief, George Dimitriu, Beatrice De Graaf

George Dimitriu

In dit artikel willen we stilstaan bij het belang van maatschappelijk draagvlak in westerse democratieën voor langdurige missies, waarbij de primaire landsbelangen niet direct op het spel staan en waarbij de noodzaak tot oorlogsvoering niet buiten kijf staat. We nemen de ISAF-evaluatie als uitgangspunt, maar willen het punt uitwerken dat in deze evaluatie buiten beschouwing is gelaten: de relatie tussen troepeninzet voor missies en het maatschappelijke draagvlak. Die relatie krijgt vorm in publieke en politieke debatten, in lobby's en stemmingen in de Kamer. Er is inmiddels een rijk onderzoeksveld ontstaan rond vraagstukken van maatschappelijk draagvlak, publieke opinie en oorlogsvoering. Uit …


The Trouble With Unity: Latino Politics And The Creation Of Identity (2010), By Cristina Beltrán, José Villalobos Oct 2011

The Trouble With Unity: Latino Politics And The Creation Of Identity (2010), By Cristina Beltrán, José Villalobos

José D. Villalobos

No abstract provided.


Strategische Communicatie In Afghanistan: Alles Draait Om Perceptie, George Dimitriu Oct 2011

Strategische Communicatie In Afghanistan: Alles Draait Om Perceptie, George Dimitriu

George Dimitriu

Tijdens conflicten is beïnvloeding van de verschillende relevante doelgroepen – tegenstanders, de lokale bevolking en het eigen thuisfront – altijd al van doorslaggevend belang geweest. Maar door de geglobaliseerde nieuwe vormen van media dat heeft geleid tot ongekende beïnvloedings-mogelijkheden, de verwevenheid van target audiences en de communicatiesuccessen van terroristen is het belang van de ideologische strijd vandaag de dag enorm toegenomen. De westerse bondgenoten zijn in Afghanistan niet alleen in een fysieke strijd verwikkeld maar ook in een strijd om percepties. Zonder draagvlak van het thuisfront is langdurige inzet van troepen immers niet mogelijk en zonder steun van de lokale …


The Dutch Counterinsurgency Approach: Political And Military Lessons, George Dimitriu, Beatrice De Graaf Jul 2011

The Dutch Counterinsurgency Approach: Political And Military Lessons, George Dimitriu, Beatrice De Graaf

George Dimitriu

In the past, military defeat has led to resignations of Ministers of Defence. But in February 2010, it was the first time that a ruling party in the Netherlands, the social democrat party (Partij van de Arbeid, PvdA), brought down the coalition government, as a protest against extending a military mission. This historical moment even inspired the Taliban to congratulate the social democrats: ‘We congratulate the Dutch for this courageous and independent decision,’ said Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi. The Taliban expressed the hope that other countries would follow the Dutch example. After four years of intensive commitment to the …


Where Does The Buck Stop? Applying Attribution Theory To Examine Public Appraisals Of The President, Cigdem V. Sirin, José D. Villalobos May 2011

Where Does The Buck Stop? Applying Attribution Theory To Examine Public Appraisals Of The President, Cigdem V. Sirin, José D. Villalobos

José D. Villalobos

This study applies attribution theory to examine public appraisals of the president. To date, most political science research on attribution theory has focused on domestic policy and no work has considered both domestic and foreign policy domains in tandem. To fill this gap, we formulate and experimentally test a series of hypotheses regarding the level of responsibility and credit/blame that individuals attribute to the president in both policy domains across varying policy conditions. We also consider how party compatibility affects people’s attribution judgments. Our findings provide a new contribution to the literature on political attributions, executive accountability, and public perceptions …


(Re)Constituting The Immigrant Body Through Policy: A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Narratives Within The Discourses Of The Development, Relief, And Education For Alien Minors Act (Dream Act), Emily Rae Ironside May 2011

(Re)Constituting The Immigrant Body Through Policy: A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Narratives Within The Discourses Of The Development, Relief, And Education For Alien Minors Act (Dream Act), Emily Rae Ironside

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using the testimonies surrounding the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act) as a primary case study, this project provides a rhetorical investigation of the interplay between narratives, nation building, national identity, policymaking, and the American immigrant. This project first identifies the grand narrative of exclusionary nationalism as the primary narrative constituting the American identity. Then, this project examines the rhetoric of policymakers to demonstrate how an Anglo-Saxonized, elitist notion of American identity is rhetorically constituted by assimilationist, racist, xenophobic, and classist discourses. Moreover, it argues policymakers maintain the narrative dominance of exclusionary nationalism through restrictive immigration …


‘Holding’ For Companies And Platoons In Counterinsurgency, George Dimitriu Mar 2011

‘Holding’ For Companies And Platoons In Counterinsurgency, George Dimitriu

George Dimitriu

In August 2010, the Dutch redeployed their forces after being active in Afghanistan for four years, aiding and abetting ISAF with around 2000 troops each rotation. Initially, the contribution after August had been discussed fiercely, but the collapse of the Netherlands’ coalition government in February 2010 meant also the end of the discussion about prolongation of the mission of Task Force Uruzgan; the withdrawal of troops is definite and more or less completed by the time of writing. In a recently published article about the performance of the Dutch forces in Uruzgan, which I wrote together with Dr. B.A. de …