Abstract
Recent scholarship has examined both the quantitative and qualitative differences in presidents’ use of executive actions. As we have seen differences in how presidents have deployed this tool, there has been less scholarship about how presidents have talked about the executive actions they have taken. We seek to examine the presidential rhetoric of executive actions. There is evidence that presidential unilateral actions have largely become accepted by other government institutions. With this acceptance, they have become normalized with the public. Thus, we hypothesize we will see an increase in presidents advertising to the public major actions they have taken through executive means as they may see benefits to standing up, in particular, to legislative intransigence. They may also discern an electoral or legacy related advantage by painting actions as decisive. Have recent presidents become more active in their use of rhetoric extolling unilateral executive action? To examine this question, we will examine major speeches of presidents Clinton to Obama and identify both where they signal potential actions, as well as their credit claiming for executive actions.
Original language | American English |
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State | Unpublished - 2017 |
Event | American Political Science Association's Annual Meeting - San Francisco, United States Duration: Aug 30 2017 → Sep 3 2017 |
Conference
Conference | American Political Science Association's Annual Meeting |
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Abbreviated title | APSA |
Country/Territory | United States |
City | San Francisco |
Period | 8/30/17 → 9/3/17 |
Keywords
- executive action
- presidential rhetoric
Disciplines
- American Politics