The Religious Rhetoric of U.S. Presidential Candidates

The Religious Rhetoric of U.S. Presidential Candidates PDF Author: Arnaud Vincent
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429638450
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 116

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Book Description
Drawing on corpus linguistic methods of analysis, this book critically examines the "rhetorical God gap" in American political discourse between the Democratic and Republican parties. The volume investigates the claims (which have often not been substantiated by quantitative data in the literature and have tended to focus on particular genres of political discourse) that there is a correlation between a higher degree of religiosity in Republican political discourse and voting preferences for the party and that Democratic politicians should engage in similar discourse toward "closing" the gap. The book adopts a keyword approach, using such techniques as collocation analyses, concordance reading, and Bible-specific N-gram identification, toward the study of a corpus of general campaign speeches over a 50-year period, and links findings from this data with social and cultural contextual factors to provide a more informed understanding of rhetorical patterns in religiously laden political language. The volume showcases the value of corpus linguistic methods in interrogating claims around political language and their broader applicability in linguistic research, making this key reading for students and scholars in corpus linguistics, critical discourse analysis, American politics, and religious studies.

The Religious Rhetoric of U.S. Presidential Candidates

The Religious Rhetoric of U.S. Presidential Candidates PDF Author: Arnaud Vincent
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429638450
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 116

Get Book Here

Book Description
Drawing on corpus linguistic methods of analysis, this book critically examines the "rhetorical God gap" in American political discourse between the Democratic and Republican parties. The volume investigates the claims (which have often not been substantiated by quantitative data in the literature and have tended to focus on particular genres of political discourse) that there is a correlation between a higher degree of religiosity in Republican political discourse and voting preferences for the party and that Democratic politicians should engage in similar discourse toward "closing" the gap. The book adopts a keyword approach, using such techniques as collocation analyses, concordance reading, and Bible-specific N-gram identification, toward the study of a corpus of general campaign speeches over a 50-year period, and links findings from this data with social and cultural contextual factors to provide a more informed understanding of rhetorical patterns in religiously laden political language. The volume showcases the value of corpus linguistic methods in interrogating claims around political language and their broader applicability in linguistic research, making this key reading for students and scholars in corpus linguistics, critical discourse analysis, American politics, and religious studies.

Religious Rhetoric and American Politics

Religious Rhetoric and American Politics PDF Author: Christopher B. Chapp
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 0801465680
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 191

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Book Description
From Reagan's regular invocation of America as "a city on a hill" to Obama's use of spiritual language in describing social policy, religious rhetoric is a regular part of how candidates communicate with voters. Although the Constitution explicitly forbids a religious test as a qualification to public office, many citizens base their decisions about candidates on their expressed religious beliefs and values. In Religious Rhetoric and American Politics, Christopher B. Chapp shows that Americans often make political choices because they identify with a "civil religion," not because they think of themselves as cultural warriors. Chapp examines the role of religious political rhetoric in American elections by analyzing both how political elites use religious language and how voters respond to different expressions of religion in the public sphere. Chapp analyzes the content and context of political speeches and draws on survey data, historical evidence, and controlled experiments to evaluate how citizens respond to religious stumping. Effective religious rhetoric, he finds, is characterized by two factors-emotive cues and invocations of collective identity-and these factors regularly shape the outcomes of American presidential elections and the dynamics of political representation. While we tend to think that certain issues (e.g., abortion) are invoked to appeal to specific religious constituencies who vote solely on such issues, Chapp shows that religious rhetoric is often more encompassing and less issue-specific. He concludes that voter identification with an American civic religion remains a driving force in American elections, despite its potentially divisive undercurrents.

Political Rhetoric, Social Media, and American Presidential Campaigns

Political Rhetoric, Social Media, and American Presidential Campaigns PDF Author: Janet Johnson
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1498540848
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 227

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Book Description
Political Rhetoric, Social Media, and American Presidential Campaigns explores how social media influenced presidential campaign rhetoric. The author discusses media use in American presidential campaigns as well as social media campaigns for Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump. This book addresses how presidential candidates adapted their rhetorical performances for newspapers, radios, television, and the Internet. Scholars of rhetoric and political communication will find this book particularly useful.

The God Strategy

The God Strategy PDF Author: David Domke
Publisher: OUP USA
ISBN: 0195326415
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
This volume offers a timely and dynamic study of the rise of religion in American politics, examining the public messages of political leaders over the past seventy-five years. The authors show that U.S. politics today is defined by a calculated, deliberate, and partisan use of faith that is unprecedented in modern politics. Beginning with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, America has seen a no-holds-barred religious politics that seeks to attract voters, identify and attack enemies, and solidify power. Domke and Coe identify a set of religious signals sent by both Republicans and Democrats in speeches, party platforms, proclamations, visits to audiences of faith, and even celebrations of Christmas. The updated edition of this ground-breaking book includes a new preface, an updated analysis of the last Bush administration, as well as a new final chapter on the Jeremiah Wright controversy, the candidacies of Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin, and Barack Obama's victory.

Religious Freedom in America

Religious Freedom in America PDF Author: Allen D. Hertzke
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806149914
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 287

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Book Description
This truly interdisciplinary volume brings together respected historians, social scientists, legal scholars, and advocates. As their contributions attest, understanding religious freedom demands taking multiple perspectives. The historians guide us through the contested legacy of religious freedom, from the nation’s founding and the rise of public education, to the subsequent waves of immigration that added successive layers of diversity to American society.

Stumping God

Stumping God PDF Author: Andrew P. Hogue
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781602584297
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 333

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Book Description
In compelling and illuminating fashion, Stumping God explains the roots of modern religious politics and encourages readers to move beyond the haze of rhetorical appeals that--for better or worse--continually clouds the political process.--Rev. Harry Know, president and CEO of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice "Conscience"

Joseph Smith for President

Joseph Smith for President PDF Author: Spencer W. McBride
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190909412
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 297

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Book Description
By the election year of 1844, Joseph Smith, the controversial founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had amassed a national following of some 25,000 believers. Nearly half of that population lived in the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, where Smith was the mayor and the commander-in-chief of a militia of some 2,500 men. In less than twenty years, Joseph Smith had transformed the American religious landscape and grown his own political power substantially. Still, the political standing of the Mormon people remained unstable. Unable to garner federal protection or the support of President Martin Van Buren or any of the major presidential candidates, Smith took the bold step of launching his own presidential campaign. While many scoffed at the notion that Smith could come anywhere close to the White House, others regarded his run as a threat to the stability of the young nation. Hounded by mobs throughout the campaign, Smith was ultimately killed, becoming the first presidential candidate to be assassinated. Though Joseph Smith's run for president is now best remembered for its gruesome end, the renegade campaign was historic in the proposals it put forward. He called for a total abolition of slavery, the closure of the country's penitentiaries, and the reestablishment of a national bank to stabilize the economy. But most important was Smith's call for an expansion of protections for religious minorities. In a time when the Bill of Rights did not apply to individual states, Smith called for the federal government to be empowered to protect minorities when states failed to do so. In this book, Spencer W. McBride tells the story of Smith's campaign and how his calls for religious freedom through constitutional reform are essential to understanding how the American political system evolved to what we know today.

Unconventional, Partisan, and Polarizing Rhetoric

Unconventional, Partisan, and Polarizing Rhetoric PDF Author: Jeanine E. Kraybill
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 1498554148
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
The rhetoric and political communication of the 2016 Presidential Election was arguably unconventional, partisan, and polarizing—becoming a defining characteristic of the tone and feel of the campaign. In this volume we examine how rhetoric and various political communication strategies influenced and shaped the contours of the election and ultimately its outcome. Witnessing the most diverse electorate in U.S. political history, we look at how voters were primed for an anti-establishment/outsider candidate and how various rhetorical and communication appeals were used to strategically engage different groups of voters and at times, leave out or even scapegoat others. We also analyze how rhetoric and political communication shaped the debate on key issues such as climate change, immigration, national security, gender, and representation. In an age where having a social media presence is an essential campaign tool, we examine how Twitter was used by candidates and its impact on the electorate and news coverage. Overall, we demonstrate that political rhetoric and communication is impactful, bearing electoral consequences and the potential for policy outcomes, giving the reader much to consider as we approach the next midterm and general election.

Rivalry and Reform

Rivalry and Reform PDF Author: Sidney M. Milkis
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022656942X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 397

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Book Description
Few relationships have proved more pivotal in changing the course of American politics than those between presidents and social movements. For all their differences, both presidents and social movements are driven by a desire to recast the political system, often pursuing rival agendas that set them on a collision course. Even when their interests converge, these two actors often compete to control the timing and conditions of political change. During rare historical moments, however, presidents and social movements forged partnerships that profoundly recast American politics. Rivalry and Reform explores the relationship between presidents and social movements throughout history and into the present day, revealing the patterns that emerge from the epic battles and uneasy partnerships that have profoundly shaped reform. Through a series of case studies, including Abraham Lincoln and abolitionism, Lyndon Johnson and the civil rights movement, and Ronald Reagan and the religious right, Sidney M. Milkis and Daniel J. Tichenor argue persuasively that major political change usually reflects neither a top-down nor bottom-up strategy but a crucial interplay between the two. Savvy leaders, the authors show, use social movements to support their policy goals. At the same time, the most successful social movements target the president as either a source of powerful support or the center of opposition. The book concludes with a consideration of Barack Obama’s approach to contemporary social movements such as Black Lives Matter, United We Dream, and Marriage Equality.

Evangelicals and Democracy in America

Evangelicals and Democracy in America PDF Author: Steven G. Brint
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN: 1610445929
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 382

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Book Description
Separation of church and state is a bedrock principal of American democracy, and so, too, is active citizen engagement. Since evangelicals comprise one of the largest and most vocal voting blocs in the United States, tensions and questions naturally arise. In the two-volume Evangelicals and Democracy in America, editors Steven Brint and Jean Reith Schroedel have assembled an authoritative collection of studies of the evangelical movement in America. Religion and Politics, the second volume of the set, focuses on the role of religious conservatives in party politics, the rhetoric evangelicals use to mobilize politically, and what the history of the evangelical movement reveals about where it may be going. Part I of Religion and Politics explores the role of evangelicals in electoral politics. Contributor Pippa Norris looks at evangelicals around the globe and finds that religiosity is a strong predictor of ideological leanings in industrialized countries. But the United States remains one of only a handful of post-industrial societies where religion plays a significant role in partisan politics. Other chapters look at voting trends, especially the growing number of higher-income evangelicals among Republican ranks, how voting is influenced both by "values" and race, and the management of the symbols and networks behind the electoral system of moral-values politics. Part II of the volume focuses on the mobilizing rhetoric of the Christian Right. Nathaniel Klemp and Stephen Macedo show how the rhetorical strategies of the Christian Right create powerful mobilizing narratives, but frequently fail to build broad enough coalitions to prevail in the pluralistic marketplace of ideas. Part III analyzes the cycles and evolution of the Christian Right. Kimberly Conger looks at the specific circumstances that have allowed evangelicals to become dominant in some Republican state party committees but not in others. D. Michael Lindsay examines the "elastic orthodoxy" that has allowed evangelicals to evolve into a formidable social and political force. The final chapter by Clyde Wilcox presents a new framework for understanding the relationship between the Christian Right and the GOP based on the ecological metaphor of co-evolution. With its companion volume on religion and society, this second volume of Evangelicals and Democracy in America offers the most complete examination yet of the social circumstances and political influence of the millions of Americans who are white evangelical Protestants. Understanding their history and prospects for the future is essential to forming a comprehensive picture of America today.