Identity, Democracy, and Presidential Rhetoric
The effects of public attitudes & expectations upon the political communications delivered by various US presidents are investigated. After contending that presidential rhetoric possesses a democratizing function, three categories of powers & constraints placed upon US presidents are identified. State of the Union & inaugural addresses delivered from 1885 to 1992 are analyzed to demonstrate how US presidents have generated notions of shared national identity & promoted diversity. Several aspects of this shared national identity produced by the aforementioned presidential communications are identified: the nation's citizens are engaged in a covenant with American society; certain individuals, especially immigrants, require government assistance in acting like American citizens; & the paradoxical inclusion & exclusion of particular groups from American citizenship. Three directions for future research are offered, eg, studying the effects of deliberative democracy upon political change or reform. J. W. Parker