- Corcoran,
Paul E. Political Language and Rhetoric Austin:
University of Texas Press, 1979.
- "Contemporary
political language--as opposed to formal rhetoric--has
assumed a peculiar and in some senses an inverted
social function as a technique of linguistic
expression. .. In short, contemporary political
language may play precisely the reverse role from that
classically conceived for political rhetoric. Instead
of a rhetorical 'method' to inform, persuade and
enlighten, contemporary political language aims at an
etiolated monologue which has no content, which
placates, and which bears no relationship to the
organization, coherency and clarification of
information and ideas." (p.xv)
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- Edelman,
Murray. Constructing the Political Spectacle
Chicago, 1988.
- "Now
Edelman goes further [than his earlier books],
positing that political actors are themselves subjects
constructed and constituted by language--political
language is not about reality but IS reality. Vital to
the construction and uses of social problems, crises,
political leaders, enemies, threats, and reassurances,
i.e., what the author labels 'the political
spectacle,' is news." (D. Nimmo, CHOICE, June,
1988)
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- Green,
David. Shaping Political Consciousness: The
Language of Politics in America from McKinley to
Reagan Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1988.
- Green
analyzes "the labels which have dominated American
political discourse and shaped the structure of
political power from McKinley to Reagan. This work is
at its best in the trenches of detailed historical
description. It reveals the history of how various
people--mainly presidents and elite political
pundits--have used five major 'good and bad' label
combinations for political purposes. The
'individualist' label of the 1860s-1890s--used by
corporations and those opposed to corporate power--was
juxtaposed to 'paternalism.' In the 1890s this gave
way to McKinley's 'conservatism' which stood opposed
to radicalism.' From 1900-1930 the dominant tension
was between 'progressives' variously defined by Teddy
Rosevelt, Wilson, and even Hoover, and
'reactionaries.' Rooseveltarian 'liberalism' replaced
the 'progressive' label in the 1930s in opposition to
'conservatism.' During the end of the Truman
presidency the 'anticommunist' label appeared.
"Since Eisenhower's 'middle of the road' label, which
was a 'moderate conservatism' embracing the New Deal,
America has developed no new vocabulary. Instead
political discourse has occurred through negative
self-definition. While Kennedy and Johnson identified
themselves as 'liberals,' both based the political and
economic policies upon a negative, 'anticommunist
presumption' (253). Ronald Reagan--a master in the art
of linguistic coufusion--frequently quoted Franklin
Roosevelt in support of his 'conservative revolution.'
According to Green, '[k]keeping alive the
debate about 'liberalism' versus 'conservativsm' was a
distraction that effectively diverted attention from
the fact that Reagan's most important political label
was not 'conservative' but 'anticommunist' . (257) The
era of negative self-definition continues. George Bush
made it abundantly clear that he is NOT a liberal, but
thus far it is impossible to say what he IS."
(p.1027)
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- Hart,
Roderick P. Verbal Style and the Presidency: A
Computer-Based Analysis. Orlando, Florida:
Academic Press, 1984.
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- Klingberg,
Frank L. "The Historical Alternation of Moods in
American Foreign Policy," World Politics
(January, 1952), 239-273.
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- Lasswell,
Harold D. and Nathan Leites and Associates.
Language of Politics: Studies in Quantitative
Semantics New York: George W. Stewart, 1949.
- "The
central theme of this book is that political power can
be better understood in the degree that language is
better understood, and that the language of politics
can be usefully studied by quantitative methods,"
(p.v)
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- Nimmo,
Dan and Keith Sanders (eds.). Handbook of Political
Language Beverly Hills, Sage Publications,
1981.
- Chapter
4: "the Problem of Validating Content Analysis," (pp.
55-82)
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Parkin,
David. "Political Language," Annual Review of
Anthropology. Volume 13, 1984. Pp.
345-365.
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- Rank,
Hugh. The Pep Talk: How to Analyze Political
Language
- Park
Forest, Illinois: The Counter-Propaganda Press, 1984.
- The
book discusses persuasion as a transaction between our
own behaviors as benefit-seekers and persuaders'
behaviors as benefit-promisers. The "pitch" and the
"pep talk" are the most common overall strategies of
persuasion today. They stress emotional appeals and
image-building. The book focuses on the pep talk,
whith seeks to bond people together for a good cause.
"The final section of the book focuses on the CONTENT
(not the FORM) of political messages in the typical
election campaign. The basic CLAIMS and CHARGES made
by ANY politician are summarized in one key sentence
('I am competent and trustworthy; from me, you'll get
more "good" and less "bad.") and the rest of the
chapter explains and qualifies this statement."
(pp.5-6)
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Rodgers,
Daniel T. Contested Truths: Keywords in American
Politics Since Independence. Basic Books,
1987.
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- Stuckey,
Mary E. Getting into the Game: The Pre-Presidential
Rhetoric of Ronald Reagan. Praeger,
1989.
- "This
book contains useful information about Ronald Reagan
as a rhetor but suffers from inadequate analytic
context and substantive depth. Stuckey analyzes
Reagan's pre-presidential speeches in a series of
chapters, each organized to present a brief factual
background of the period, the contours of his
rhetorical style, and an analysis of a representative
speech. .. the book does contain a useful appendix on
rhetorical analysis." (S.E. Schier, CHOICE, Nov.,
1989)
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Tulis,
Jeffrey K. The Rhetorical Presidency (Princeton,
1987)
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- Windt,
Theodore Otto. Presidents and Protesters: Political
Rhetoric in the 1960s Alabama, 1990.
- "Windt
presents an impressive analysis of the importance of
rhetoric to actual US politics, whether in the White
House or in the streets. His work demonstrates how
much one can learn about politics by taking seriously
the consciously articulated arguments of political
leaders and activists, a research approach largely
ignored by practitioners of behavioral and formal
analysis. The chapters on the three presidents of the
'60s are especially illuminating, each adding
considerably to an understand of their presidencies
and political careers. Windt also manages to make
sense of the seeming rhetorical cacophony of various
'60s protest movements by identifying four forms of
rhetoric consistently in use during this time." S.E.
Schier, CHOICE (May, 1991).
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