This thesis explores the function and limitations of presidential immigration rhetoric, using Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton as examples to show the development of rhetoric across their presidencies. Reagan and Clinton are theoretically ideologically juxtaposed, though examples found in their public speech on immigration politics show patterned language that contributed to harmful discourses, kept legislation ineffective, and promoted anti-immigration sentiment. Most persistent since Reagan’s response to the fourth and current wave of immigration to the U.S. was the description of the United States as a “nation of immigrants.” Reference to the “nation of immigrants” was often conflictingly coupled with rhetoric that promoted restrictive sentiments. Contradictory and ambiguous presidential immigration rhetoric used to appeal to multiple constituencies has left immigration legislation unproductive and has had harmful consequences for immigrant communities.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1986 L41 / Master of Arts / Communication Studies

Degree awarded with distinction on 8 December 1993. Johannesburg 1993. / This dissertation begins with an examination of the salient principles and doctrines that have shaped American foreign policy. Since the end of the Second World War, the doctrines of American foreign policy have all been manifestations of the concept of containment that constituted the bedrock of U.S. policy towards its principal adversary the soviet Union. The Reagan Doctrine exhibited many of the traditional characteristics of its predecessor but, in reflecting shifting global realities, the Reagan Doctrine was also innovative and represented a new policy direction. Through the two selected case studies (Nicaragua and Afghanistan) the application of the Reagan Doctrine is evaluated with a view to determining its objectives, successes and failures.

Abstract Mass incarceration is a popular term in today’s society that is means to describe the high incarceration rate in the United States. Because of this, the United States has the largest prison population in the world. Mass incarceration is a movement that truly began to make headway during Reagan’s presidency and his declaration of a War on Drugs. The sensationalization of the dangers of crack cocaine sparked a “tough on crime” mentality and a long series of punitive measures that would come to disproportionately affect the black community. Today, mass incarceration has become an extremely controversial topic. The debate has centered on whether this country is too punitive and how current policies may be disproportionately affecting black men as they make up 33% of the prison population but only 12% of the general population (Alexander, 2010). However, regardless of the controversy, mass incarceration continues to affect millions of individuals in this country. Thus, the question is why individuals continue to be imprisoned at such alarming rates. Not only has the prison system take a strong foothold in this country but its power and influence continue to grow with the prison industrial complex. Therefore, ensuring that future generations will continue to be affected. In order to stop mass incarceration, we must consider alternatives to our prison system, such as a focus on rehabilitation rather than deterrence. Or perhaps an abolition of our prison system altogether.

This thesis examines the manner in which Ronald Reagan responded to the Tower Commission Report concerning his involvement in the Iran-Contra Affair. It explores the following questions: 1) What were the factors leading to a rhetorical situation as defined by the media and which required Ronald Reagan to provide a public response of self-defense; 2) what strategies of apologia did Reagan employ; and 3) how did the media and the White House characterize the outcome of Reagan's speech? Data for analysis were drawn from nationally recognized newspapers that shaped public perception of the Iran-Contra Affair: The Washington Post, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and The Christian Science Monitor. In addition, The Tower Commission Report and Ronald Reagan's March 4, 1987 speech were used as primary texts. It was found that the events of the Iran-Contra Affair qualified as a crisis, and exemplified an exigence needing a response. The thesis demonstrated that the Iran-contra Affair was an appropriate case for study as a rhetorical situation. Analysis demonstrates how Ronald Reagan made full use of the conventional apologetic strategies of denial, bolstering, differentiation, and transcendence to regain lost credibility; moreover, analysis provides further evidence of the utility of genre criticism.

As the federal government seeks ways to stimulate our economy and reduce our national debt, understanding public attitudes on the role and size of government and the taxes that support it is important. This thesis evaluates how US public opinion towards government and taxes has changed from 1990 to the present, and analyzes several potential causes for changes that have occurred. It is intended to be an update of William G. Mayer’s 1992 book entitled The Changing American Mind, which analyzed changing public opinion from 1960-1988. In following his analysis, the causes I have analyzed are generational replacement, fiscal and economic indicator data, and important political events. Through and examination of public polling data from the last twenty years, I have concluded that attitudes fluctuated relatively mildly on these issues since 1990. My analysis reveals that generational replacement exerted little influence on opinions. However, analysis also reveals that major changes in fiscal and economic indicator data and various major policy initiatives induced the greatest swings in public opinion of the last two decades. I believe that these changes reflect that American aggregate opinion remains constructed on a post-Ronald Reagan ideological foundation, whose features include an inherent suspicion of government and resistance to taxes. Understanding this is crucial to understanding the nation’s political trajectory.

Cette recherche constitue une analyse de la présidence de Ronald Reagan sous un nouvel angle. Au sein de cet ouvrage, nous analysons l'influence que l'idéologie du messianisme américain a eue sur Ronald Reagan lors de son passage à la Maison-Blanche. L'originalité de notre étude tient au fait que nous analysons le contenu des discours prononcés par le Président suite à certains événements marquants de sa présidence en matière de politique étrangère, dans le but de constater si ce dernier fait usage d'une rhétorique messianique. En procédant de la sorte nous combinons deux facettes de sa personnalité: l'homme religieux avec le messianisme et le communicateur avec sa rhétorique. À l'aide de cette méthodologie, nous souhaitions corroborer notre hypothèse de départ stipulant que Ronald Reagan était réellement influencé par l'idéologie du messianisme et qu'il s'en servait au sein de ses discours pour justifier ses décisions en matière de politique extérieure. Pour ce faire, nous avons sélectionné les allocutions du Président qui étaient liées aux principaux événements qui ont marqué la politique étrangère américaine entre 1980 et 1988. Une fois nos analyses complétées, nous avons été frappé de voir à quel point notre hypothèse se voyait confirmée par nos résultats. Effectivement, Ronald Reagan fait usage d'une rhétorique messianique pour justifier à la nation ses décisions en matière de politiques étrangères. Il va même plus loin en se laissant influencer par des idéologies découlant du messianisme, telles que le missionnarisme, l'exceptionnalisme et le millénarisme. Enfin, nous croyons que notre approche novatrice et nos conclusions auront comme principale conséquence d'élargir le champ d'étude existant sur la présidence de Ronald Reagan tout en ouvrant une possibilité d'analyse sur les similitudes existantes entre la rhétorique messianique de Ronald Reagan et celle de George W. Bush. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : États-Unis, Relation, Politique, Étranger, Extérieur, Histoire, Rhétorique, Religion, Présidence, 1980-1988.

<p>This dissertation addresses one of the most vexing issues in American foreign policy: Under what circumstances should the United States use military force in pursuit of national interests? Despite not having a policy upon entering office or articulating one throughout its first term, the Reagan administration used military force numerous times. Two-weeks following Reagan's landslide reelection victory, Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger articulated six tests for when and how to use military force, which surprisingly seemed to call for restraint. Through the examination of three case studies, the Reagan administration's decisions are found to have been influenced by the assimilation of lessons from Vietnam, the reading of public pulse, the desire to placate Congress, and the need to protect the nation's strategic interests. All these factors, ultimately codified by Weinberger, were considered by the leaders in the Reagan administration as they tried to expand the military's ability to help the U.S. meet an increasingly wider range of threats. Thus this dissertation will show that, contrary to what one finds in contemporary scholarship, the Weinberger doctrine was intended as a policy to legitimize the use of military force as a tool of statecraft, rather than an endorsement to reserve force as a last resort after other instruments of power have failed.</p> / Dissertation

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 401-417). Also available on the Internet.

This dissertation explores a style of literature known as "blank" fiction that became popular in the United States in the mid-1980s, focusing on its stark, limited form, its minimal plots, its focus on commodification, and its scenes of graphic violence. The author presents the argument that filmmakers were producing pieces of cinema during the same time period that are similar in both form and content to the works of blank fiction. These films are a part of a style she labels "blank" cinema. Blank fiction and cinema are politically charged and highly critical of the social and political situation in America during the time in which they are produced. The authors and filmmakers producing blank works interrogate issues of social irresponsibility, rampant consumerism, and the global domination of capitalist values. Blank artists frequently criticize the perpetuation of such issues by the dominating power of white, middle- and upper-class men. The serial killer figure is used by many to represent the "unexamined" threat of those in power. The use of popular culture references and marketing tags are ubiquitous in blank fiction and film, and it is through the use of such signs that blank artists show their audiences that the power of those that traditionally control cultural ideologies in America can be manipulated and controlled by anyone, thus giving power to those who may have traditionally felt powerless and submissive to the dominant ideologies of American culture.