Abstract
Sustained attention from political scientists to the study of presidential unilateral executive actions has largely been isolated to the last 20 years. Furthermore, the attention given to unilateral executive actions has largely focused on the actions themselves. What has garnered less attention is the rhetoric that surrounds these documents. We seek to examine the presidential rhetoric of unilateral executive actions, specifically executive orders, proclamations, and memoranda. In particular, we are interested in how presidents advertise (or do not advertise) these executive actions, as they have a choice in whether they make oral remarks, and to what audiences those remarks are directed. Has the rate, type and nature of this rhetoric changed over time from Reagan to Obama? We hypothesize that over time, more recent presidents will be more active in highlighting their executive actions and claiming credit for them as policy accomplishments. We also expect the qualitative nature of the rhetoric used to differ by president, as well. We hope to further recent research on unilateral executive actions as policy tools by considering how presidents have coupled these executive tools with their rhetorical tools.
Original language | American English |
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State | Unpublished - 2018 |
Event | American Political Science Association's Annual Meeting: Democracy and Its Discontents - Boston, United States Duration: Aug 30 2018 → Sep 2 2018 |
Conference
Conference | American Political Science Association's Annual Meeting |
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Abbreviated title | APSA |
Country/Territory | United States |
City | Boston |
Period | 8/30/18 → 9/2/18 |
Keywords
- executive action
- presidential rhetoric
Disciplines
- American Politics