Political Communication

Presidential Communication combines a study of the presidency with communications. It first builds a base for the "rhetorical presidency"--what it means and how it works--and why an approach based on an analysis of presidential rhetoric and persuasion works better than others to uncover the essential nature of the office. The authors also examine the presidency from the major areas of concentration traditionally found in communications scholarship. The theoretical discussion is reinforced with case studies drawn from recent history.

Focusing on the audience, Owen investigates the way people process media messages during campaigns. She examines the role of ads, news stories, poll results, and debates in presidential campaigns. Based on surveys fielded during the 1984 and 1988 Presidential campaigns, Owen compares these four message categories to determine their relative importance to voters. She also investigates how people make use of messages when establishing their perceptions of candidates and issues. This book is designed for researchers and students in communications and mass media, voting behavior, and public opinion.

In this timely new book Smith develops a methodology for the study and criticism of presidential press conferences. Moving away from the traditional method of studying the presidential rhetoric of prepared speeches, Smith proposes methods of criticism for the quasi-spontaneous environment of the press conference where the control of message is divided between the president and the press. The book offers a detailed critical assessment of Ronald Reagan's relationship with reporters during his first eight years in office. From this assessment, Smith develops her approach to press conference criticism.

This first systematic critique on the rhetoric of 21 presidents shows how political constraints shaped rhetoric and how oratory shaped politics. An introduction places American public address in the context of classical rhetorical practices and theory and sets the stage for the bio-critical essays about presidents ranging from Washington to Clinton. Experts analyze the style and use of language, important speeches and their impact, and their ethical ramifications. Each essay on a president also keys major speeches to authoritative texts and offers a chronology and bibliography of primary and secondary sources. For students, teachers, and professionals in American public address, political communication, and the presidency.

Kendall provides a fascinating account of the role of speeches, debates, political advertisements, and media coverage of U.S. presidential primaries in the twentieth century, with predictions and recommendations for primaries of the future. There is much fresh, new, and surprising information, culled from archival research, content analysis of media coverage, and direct observation of the candidates and media on the campaign trail.

Playing the Game offers an exploration of the rhetoric of the "Reagan Revolution." The book fully explores how the rhetoric supported, impeded, and affected Reagan's policy goals and political success. Stuckey shows how Reagan's use of language in his public speech was instrumental in the creation of the "Teflon Presidency," and how use of this language created a situation where by the President would not remain unscathed forever--as was the case in 1986. The data for this volume includes speeches, remarks, addresses, statements, memorandums, and other forms of public speech during the Reagan years.

Silvestri provides a chronicle of the political and social contexts for John F. Kennedy's 18-year career as a public communicator and political leader. He offers communication analysis of his years in politics, his campaigns, debates, and use of television on issues that became landmark communication efforts, elevating his charismatic presidency.

From the Margins to the Center fills an important gap in the political communications literature, examining the patterns of women as political communicators in the United States to determine if they have learned the "political game" as defined by men - or if they have carved out the "different kind of politics" envisioned by Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder when she considered seeking the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination. Examining the cases of Lani Guinier, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Janet Reno, the authors explore the rhetorical choices contemporary women are making in political discourse. They frame this exploration theoretically by describing three moral boundaries that discourage women from entering political life: the boundary between morality and politics, the moral point of view boundary, and the boundary between public and private life. Guinier, Clinton, and Reno have each adopted different strategies in confronting these boundaries and in challenging gender stereotypes, and their strategies dramatically illustrate the communication of contemporary political women. Of interest to all in speech communication, political science, and women's studies.