The Rhetoric of Executive Action

Donna Hoffman, Alison Howard

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePresentationpeer-review

    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 languageAmerican English
    StateUnpublished - 2018
    EventAmerican Political Science Association's Annual Meeting: Democracy and Its Discontents - Boston, United States
    Duration: Aug 30 2018Sep 2 2018

    Conference

    ConferenceAmerican Political Science Association's Annual Meeting
    Abbreviated titleAPSA
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    CityBoston
    Period8/30/189/2/18

    Keywords

    • executive action
    • presidential rhetoric

    Disciplines

    • American Politics

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