Browsing by Subject "Political communication"

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    Gendered voices: rhetorical agency and the political career of Hillary Rodham Clinton.
    (2012-08) Killian, Justin Lee
    Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton‟s public life represents a specific moment when a generation of women started to materially symbolize the progress made by feminist activists. Because of the struggles of previous reformers, Rodham Clinton was able to serve as a corporate lawyer, a First Lady of the United States, a health care reformer, a foreign diplomat, a candidate, a U.S. Senator, and a presidential front-runner. She is also the third woman to hold the post of U.S. Secretary of State. Rodham Clinton has a public resume unmatched by any political woman, but her success has also made her the victim of misogynistic symbolic violence. She is the most (mis)interpreted figure in U.S. politics. This project analyzes significant moments of public address in the life of Rodham Clinton. Her career presents transitional spaces from which to understand rhetorical agency, voice, and gender. The chapters cover: (1) Rodham Clinton‟s speeches promoting the 1993 Clinton healthcare reform, (2) Rodham Clinton‟s U.N. address in Beijing China, (3) Rodham Clinton‟s 1996 Democratic National Convention Address, (4) a collection of speeches that Rodham Clinton offered on the 2002 Iraq conflict, (5) Rodham Clinton‟s presidential campaign rhetoric, and (6) Rodham Clinton‟s 2008 Democratic National Convention Address.
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    Who Are “The Pure People”? Populist Supporters And The Role Of Media In The Populist Imagined Community
    (2022-04) Juarez Miro, Clara
    This dissertation conducts a comparative analysis of right-wing and left-wing populism in the United States and Spain to uncover how populist supporters (RQ1) use online media to engage with like-minded people, (RQ2) interpret the populist message defining “the people’s” leaders and enemies, (RQ3.1) characterize their imagined community of “the people,” and (RQ3.2) satisfy specific social-psychological needs through their membership in said community. Research on fandom, political talk and the hybrid media system informs an analysis of populist supporters’ interviews and online interactions. Findings reveal that populist supporters engage with online communities of politically like-minded users to validate and strengthen their political and social identities. Additionally, populist supporters use markers of community membership in their collective interpretations of leaders and perceived enemies, with users expressing intense emotions and mutually reinforcing their viewpoints. Finally, the overwhelmingly positive attributes associated with “the people” suggest that populist supporters satisfied individual (e.g. improved self-esteem) and social (e.g. sense of belonging) needs through their membership in their imagined community. Populist supporters appear to obtain a sense of belonging by imagining themselves as members of “the people” and, then, by connecting with fellow members in online spaces. These experiences appear to be highly rewarding and crucial for populist supporters’ political mobilization.