This project attempts to bridge the gap between organizational theory and
political rhetoric by approaching the study of the George W. Bush administration
through the lens of Weick's theory of organizing. I specifically argue for the Bush
administration as a tightly coupled system, as demonstrated by the media and the
members of the administration themselves. Second, I argue for the constraining nature
of the enacted environment through an analysis of the administration's position on
federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. I find that Bush's decision to veto
stem cell legislation in 2006 was a consequence of his identity as an Evangelical
Christian and of his definition of what it means to be a leader. Finally, I argue for the
importance of requisite variety in the administration's rhetorical constructions of the
problems facing Social Security and the proposed methods of program reform. The
administration's proposal demonstrates the necessity for a rhetorical "matching" between the construction of the problem and the construction of the solution. Finally, I
turn to Crable and situate the findings within Crable's model of organizational rhetoric.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/86061 |
| Date | 10 October 2008 |
| Creators | Willyard, Jennifer |
| Contributors | Miller, Katherine I |
| Publisher | Texas A&M University |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | electronic, born digital |
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