Scholars, journalists, and politicians speak frequently about the legitimacy of political institutions; yet there is little known about the precise elements that comprise the concept of legitimacy. I draw from a broad literature across the social sciences to present a coherent, multi-dimensional theory of legitimacy. I advance also a theory of presidential legitimacy rhetoric, arguing that presidents will use legitimacy rhetoric most when prompted by crisis conditions or in precedential contexts which mandate the use of language on institutions' legitimacy. Using text analysis on presidential speeches from 1961-2022, I demonstrate that presidents have indeed used legitimacy rhetoric more frequently during periods of crisis. I find subsequently, with original survey experiment data, that presidential legitimacy rhetoric has a significant impact on public attitudes, though not in the direction of the president's remarks. This dissertation therefore contributes to extant literature on presidential leadership by producing original evidence that presidents are largely defensive and limited actors in the U.S. political system, frequently turning to legitimacy rhetoric to exploit existing political conditions yet nevertheless typically unable to shift public opinion to fit their own views.

This thesis is an exploration of affect theory and emotional rhetoric in the 2016 Presidential Election, and specifically in Donald Trump’s candidacy, first through a series of rhetorical readings of Trump’s rhetoric on the campaign trail and after his election. The first section of this thesis focuses on Donald Trump and the various rhetorical spaces he uses to reach his supporters through affectual means. Next, I will apply affect theory to Trump’s political rhetoric in order to illustrate how affect is intrinsic to his rhetoric and how he communicates to his audience. I find that utilizing texts by cultural rhetoric critics, namely those which discuss affect theory and the culture of emotion such as Sara Ahmed’s The Cultural Politics of Emotion, and culture and rhetorical spaces in Julie Lindquist’s A Place to Stand: Politics and Persuasion in a Working Class Bar, allows us to better understand the underlying cultural impetuses which created the conditions for Donald Trump’s presidency. In the third section, I examine how these theoretical frameworks provide an understanding of how fake news contributed to the current American climate of a post-truth media culture. And in the final section, I explore how satirical rhetoric is employed both as a defense against and as a rhetorical utility for Donald Trump, namely in his use of carnivalesque techniques and rhetoric to appeal to his voter’s sense of rebellion against and cynicism toward the political establishment. In doing so, I argue that Trump’s use of affect, particularly in his targeted approach to appeal to his base’s existential, socio-economic, and racial fears, was essential to his success in the 2016 Presidential election. / Master of Arts / Watching the coverage of Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign and eventual election, one of the most critical aspects not explored in depth by scholarship and academia was his campaign’s use of affect and emotional rhetoric. By appealing to his base’s passions, fueling dissention and anger against the opposition, Trump was able to incite a populist movement that lead him all the way to the White House. This thesis examines Trump’s use of rhetorical spaces such as political rallies and debate stages as avenues to stir up the emotions of his base, as well as becoming a mouthpiece for many on the far right to spread their agenda of isolationism and white nationalism. The use of fake news is also explored, particularly in how it was used to spread a far-right partisan agenda to misinform or mislead Trump supporters to vote against their own interests, and in some cases, even incite violence. Finally, through a brief history of the effects of satire on public opinion post-9/11, I argue that Trump uses carnivalesque techniques to appeal to voters’ sensibilities, particularly their fatigue regarding political correctness and their ire at their perception of being left behind by government insiders. By viewing Trump’s use of affect, I argue that scholars, and the general public, can gain insight as to how not to fall for such emotional rhetorical strategies so that they do not find themselves voting against their own socio-economic and representative interests.

In the last two decades of his life, Harry S. Truman formally established the office of the ex-presidency in the public eye. The goals he wanted to accomplish and the legislation passed to help Truman achieve these aims led the way for Truman and other former presidents to play a significant role in American public life. Men who had occupied the nation's highest office had a great deal to offer their country, and Truman saw to it that he and other former presidents had the financial and the institutional support to continue serving their nation in productive ways. Although out of the White House, Harry S. Truman wanted to continue to play an active role in the affairs of the nation and the Democratic party. In pursuing this goal, he found that he was limited by a lack of financial support and was forced to turn to the federal government for assistance. While Truman was active for more than a decade after he left Washington, his two most important legacies were helping push for federal legislation to provide financial support for ex-presidents and to organize and maintain presidential libraries. Truman believed that these endeavors were a small price for the nation to pay to support thee former occupants of the nation's highest office. Furthermore, Truman believed that presidential libraries were essential in preserving and disseminating the history of the nation's highest office. Truman's other activities including heavy involvement in partisan affairs. While he tried unsuccessfully to determine the party's presidential candidates, his involvement in the Democratic party and attendance at partisan events displayed his level of commitment to the party and his determination to play a role in its activities.

- Direct presidential election in the Czech Republic: reasons, conditions, consequences This diploma thesis is concerned with different aspects of implementation of the direct presidential election in the Czech Republic. It is aimed to discover the actual reasons for passing the Constitutional Act No. 71/2012 Coll., which introduces this institute into the Czech constitutional system. For the purpose of doing so, the thesis is divided into three parts. The first one presents and evaluates particular arguments (historical, political, constitutional, legal etc.), which were used by the proponents of this institute on one hand and by its opponents on the other. The content of the second part is the most extensive as it follows up the comparison of bills attempting to implement the direct presidential election into the Constitutional Act since 2001 up to the present. Therefore this part contains thirteen bills in total, including the one, which later becomes the Act No. 71/2012 Coll. Individual bills are compared and contrasted. The pertinent political and social circumstances accompanying their origin are also briefly mentioned. As the result of this comparison the author comes to the conclusion that the true motive to pass the Constitutional Act No. 71/2012 Coll does not lie in its content or its...

The direct election of the president is political, politological and also constitutional-legal topic which has already accompanied for many years. It appears always in connection with the presidential elections, but also as a part of the parliamentary election campaign. February 2012 interrupted the regularity and direct presidential election was approved. What this step will have impact on functioning of the Czech political system, will turn up in 2013 when the authority will take the first Czech president elected in direct elections. But the majority of constitutional lawyers and political scientists agree that the introduction of direct elections in the Czech Republic is not solving the existing problems, and therefore they express fears how the chase will affect the functioning of the system as a whole. Keywords: direct presidential elections, powers, legitimacy, political system, presidential campaign

Zusammenfassung Die Diplomarbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Problematik der Nomination und Registration der Kandidaten für die tschechische Präsidentenwahl. Im Jahre 2012 genehmigte das Parlament eine Änderung der Verfassung, die die Wahl des tschechischen Präsidenten auf die direkte Wahl änderte. Im Zusammenhang damit kamen viele Fragen über die Nomination und Registration der Kandidaten für die Funktion des Präsidenten. Diese Fragen musste man nicht lösen, weil das Recht auf die Nomination des Kandidaten neu die Bürger bekamen, die eine Petition mit den Unterschriften mindestens 50.000 Bürger mit dem Wahlrecht vorlegen. Die Diplomarbeit bemüht sich diese Probleme zu analysieren und ihre Lösung vorzuschlagen. Nach dem Einführungsteil über die Geschichte der Anträge auf die direkte Wahl im tschechischen Verfassungssystem und nach der Rekapitulation der anderen Rechtsvorschriften, laut den man in einigen Fällen (Kandidatur der unabhängigen Kandidaten in den Komunal- oder Senatwahlen, bzw. Gründung einer neuen politischen Partei) eine Petition mit einer bestimmten Anzahl der Unterschriften vorlegen muss, folgt gerade dieser analytischer Anteil. In dieser Diplomarbeit beschäftigt sich der Autor z.B. damit, auf welche Art und Weise bei der ersten tschechischen Präsidentenwahl das Innenministerium die...

(English) Brazil is not gifted by greatest conditions for its existence - president do have strong legislative powers, which allow him to dominate politics, and he is confronted by severely fragmented legislature. This kind of political constellation should cause strong political crises and should be responsible for unstability of political regime. In this paper, we are trying to describe reasons why it is not so. Thanks to the change of international ideological and political context (i.e. end of Cold War) democracy has been internalized by various political actors and army returned back to barracks. Parliament and president were left alone to face their own fate. Even though president dominates legislative process (thanks to his strong powers) and can structure parliament's choices, constitution (de facto) forces him to seek support in parliament and create wider coalitions. On the other hand parliament has strong tools how to offer president alternative proposals and de facto decides if president's policy will be permanent or not. In extreme cases (i.e. political crises) is parliament proactive actor, which controls presidents survival.

The thesis Anti-immigrant Rhetoric and the Concept of National Identity in the French Presidential Campaign in 2012 is focused on the political discourse of three main candidates of the French presidential campaign in 2012 (Marine Le Pen, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande). The aim of the research is to analyze the image of immigration and immigrants and on the other hand French and national identity in the discourse of the politicians. As methodological basis for the research critical discourse analysis was selected, completed by analysis of metaphors. The thesis is based on the theoretical framework composed of the following concepts: 1/ discursive reproduction of the racism by so called symbolic elites, 2/ new racism and 3/ construction of national identity. The thesis also presents the social and political context of the election. The main objective of the research is to answer the following research questions: How does the political discourse of presidential candidates deepen the gap between positive self-presentation and negative presentation of the others? And to which extent in the discourse of individual candidates can it be seen? The thesis describes specific topics, topoi and discursive strategies which are used by the candidates.

Political climates are undoubtedly changing across the nation and creating volatile fluctuations of attitudes, beliefs, and behavior. In a more entertaining season of presidential primaries, both parties – Democratic and Republican – have nominees that will once again be scrutinized by many across the country. I argue the levels of scrutiny will more likely than not be enhanced to new proportions. Since a consistent reliance on media involvement and attack ads have grown immensely amongst presidential candidates, this will translate into a wider gap in party polarization and subsequently tie into the trust of American citizens. Previous scholars have shown consistent data that political trust has no bearing on the actual turnout of presidential elections (Citrin 1974). But, historic distrustful ratings between major-party candidates may prove to alter political cultures for subsequent years. In this study, I thoroughly examine the growing significance of political trust on presidential voting in the United States.

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