Fall 2006
New information will appear in pink
assignment due dates are in red
links are in purple and blue
meets 2:00-3:15, TuesThurs, in Lang 345
Catherine H. Palczewski, Ph.D.
e-mail: palczewski@uni.edu
office: Lang 341, x32714
office hours:
Tues 3:15-4:45
Thurs 11:00-12:00
I also am available for quick questions at the following times (when other students have scheduled regular meetings with me):
Tues 1:00-1:30
Weds 11:00-12:00, 2:00-3:00
Lang 218 debate office hours:
Weds 4:00-6:00
If none of these times work, feel free to call or email to make an appointment.
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Week 13 Week 14 Week 15 Week 16 Final
Purpose: Political communication, broadly defined, is any form of communication that implements, negotiates, or recognizes power relations. In this way, political communication may occur between two people, or it may be a speech heard by millions. This course, however, will focus on two specific areas of U.S. political communication: campaigns and presidential rhetoric. The first half of the course will examine rhetoric related to the presidential and gubernatorial/congressional election process, from campaign to election. The second half will look at the intersections of presidential rhetoric and public controversy by examining presidential rhetoric from inaugural to farewell. Throughout the course, we will examine the interplay of sex, race, and class with public policy issues and the political process.
Goals:
1) Achieve an understanding of how presidents and candidates employ and are constrained by rhetorical genres.2) Improve rhetorical criticism skills.
3) Inquire into the intersection of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender, and power.
4) Recognize how public discourse creates political realities.
5) Improve discussion skills.
6) Improve understanding of and facility with electronic communication technologies.
7) Learn about the research and writing process.
Readings:
Hollihan, T. A. (2001). Uncivil wars: Political campaigns in a media age. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's. (UW)
Brock, B.L., Huglen, M.E., Klumpp, J.F., & Howell, S. (2005). Making sense of political ideology. New York: Rowman & Littlefield. (MSPI)
Additional readings for the class are located a packet and in electronic sources.
The packet is available at Copyworks. You can ask for it under my last name (Palczewski) or by packet number 433. You may have to request it in advance, since they do not make copies until the packet is requested. Copyworks number is 266-2306.
You might also consider signing onto FactCheck's email list. FactCheck is a nonpartisan group, housed at U. of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School of Communicaiton, that monitors campaigns (particularly ads) for false statements. Their evolving coverage, for example on the SwiftBoat Veterans ad, was particularly interesting. To sign on, go to their website: http://www.factcheck.org/ and click on Sign Up Now on the right wide of the screen.
Electronic sources are listed in the syllabus (thus accessing them should be easy because the electronic syllabus contains links to all electronic readings listed). You will be expected to print out paper copies of electronic documents so that you can refer to them in class during discussion. Basically, anything without a link is located in the reading packet. If you have any trouble accessing links, immediately let me know. I have copied many of the speeches to local files in case the linked sites go down.
In some cases, you will see "(analysis)" after some of the speeches. After we have discussed these speeches in class, I will post a summary of the rhetorical analysis we have completed. These are offered as models you can use for your short papers.
The syllabus is subject to change. Should a change occur, it will appear in pink on the page.
Assignments: (Graduate students: Your assignments are determined in negotiation with the professor, and should involve work of a more in-depth nature. By the end of the second week of class, you should have turned in an assignment proposal that includes, 1) name of assignment, 2) description, 3) due date, 4) point worth (model it after the assignment descriptions in the syllabus). Graduate students also will meet an additional hour each week for an intensive seminar, at a time to be determined by your schedules. Additional readings may be required for these meetings.
1) Class research project [assignments total 60%]. The goal of this assignment is to develop a paper of publishable quality that analyzes the 2006 1st District congressional race. All participating members of the class will be listed as authors. In the process, I hope to familiarize you with the processes of scholarly writing.
The paper will explore a range of issues, including whether the claim advanced by Brock, Huglen, Klumpp, and Howell (2005) is correct: is it true that "[t]hose running for political office today, expecially below the level of the presidency, seldom embrace the label of their party" (p. 1). Given the central role that Nussle has played in the national potitical scene, is it possible for him to distance himself from his party label? We also will explore the role of ideology (also as outlined in the Brock, et al. book). Finally, we will seek to outline the representative anecdotes of the campaign, and assess the rhetoric of the main candidates involved.
A. Facts on the candidates [10%]. Due August 29. Each student is required to find out the answer to 1 of the the following questions. Please make sure to provide complete bibliographic information for all facts. Provide copies of documents when possible. If you find an answer to a question no one else has, you get 10 points. If another person has the same answer and source, you get 5 (so answer 2 questions to be safe). For basic facts, you can start here.
1. Who are the candidates (Culver v. Nussle, Braley v. Whalen)? Part of this assignment is to help figure out which campaign on which we want to focus the research project.
a. age, family, full name, education, employment history
b. party affiliation and past political experience
c. policy positions
d. announcement address: if you find, send a copy to Cate asap
e. acceptance address
f. election margin in primary
g. stump speeches
h. list of TV advertisements (with storyboard)
i. list of radio advertisements (with transcripts)
j. list of campaign items
k. campaign warchest
2. Past elections
a. typical turnout for last 4 gubenatorial (and mideterm congressional) elections (with demographic breakdowns)
b. general history of Iowa governors (and the 1st district)-- is there any trend in terms of what Iowan's elect?
3. Election process: scheduled debates, candidate's scheduled appearances and speeches, endorsements
4. 2006 Iowa election issues: What are the key issues in this election? Are there wedge issues? Where is the most extensive media coverage?
B. Literature review [10%]. Each student is required to find at least 5 essays (scholarly essays, books or book chapters, quality web publications, and/or lengthy mass media reports [single newspaper articles do not count]) analyzing gubernatorial (or congressional) elections in general, and the 2006 Iowa election in particular. If no other student has found the essay, then it is worth up to 2 points. Duplicative essays are worth up to 1 point (hence there is an incentive to find 10 essays). For each essay, students need to provide a cover abstract (link to an example of the abstract) as well as a complete copy of the essay. On the day the abstracts are due, we will discuss the essays and then develop the literature review for the paper as well as the core questions we want to answer. Common themes will be identified, facts will be checked , and the introduction for the paper will be written. Accordingly, please be very familiar with the articles. Due September 5. Email all abstracts to me as attachments, labeled: yourlastnameAb1, yourlastnameAb2, etc.
Each entry should comply with APA format. There are MULTIPLE copies of the APA manual (5th edition) located in the library:
Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th edUNI Ref Desk CBT BF76.7 .P83 2001, BF76.7 .P83 2001 c.2UNI Reserve BF76.7 .P83 2001, BF76.7 .P83 2001 c.2
UNI A/M Office BF76.7 .P83 2001
C. Campaign text analyses [30%, 3 at 10% each, 5 pages long ]. Write an analysis of three campaign messages (speech, ad, billboard, website section, etc.). You should provide a transcript, printout, audio or videotape of the message you analyze. Your analysis should include:
a. description of the situation: audience, location, time, messages from the competing campaign
b. summary of the text: one paragraph describing the purpose and rhetorical feel of the text
c. descriptive analysis of the text
d. assessment of the choices given the rhetorical situation
e. interaction with the other candidate's campaign messages
f. interaction with the candidate's own campaign
Sources other than the campaign text should be used in writing the paper and included in the bibliography. While it is possible to do a passable criticism using only the speech, research into the rhetorical situation is expected.
Your paper needs to make an argument about the quality and meaning of the text. To prepare to write the paper, you should begin with analyzing the rhetorical situation, and then identify the 7 elements in the speech. However, this does not mean your paper will be arranged around these elements. Instead, once your initial analysis is done, determine what the most significant choices were and use them to structure the analysis section of the paper. You should use evidence from the text as much as possible to support the claims made in your descriptive analysis.
Outside resources can be used to help describe the situation. They also can be used to help you identify rhetorical moves in the text. However, the ultimate judgment of whether the speech is a good one or not ought to be argued by you. Simply concluding that the speech is good (or bad) because that is what newspaper reports said is not sufficient. I want to read your analysis of the speech.
An example of a paper is available here.
Paper 1 Due September 21
Paper 2 Due October 12
Paper 3 Due November 2
ALL PAPERS SHOULD BE TURNED IN ON THE ASSIGNED CLASS DAY IN PAPER FORM, AS WELL AS SENT TO CATE VIA EMAIL AS AN ATTACHMENT. SHE WILL UPLOAD ALL THE PAPERS (WITHOUT AUTHOR IDENTIFICATION) SO THAT THE REST OF THE CLASS CAN READ THEM. THE PAPERS CAN BE ACCESSED AT THIS LINK:
(Paper 1 link).
(Paper 2 Link).
(Paper 3 link).
D. Paper editing [10%]. As the paper is written, it will be posted on the website. You are responsible for printing it out, editing it, and returning the edits to me. There will be two major times for edits:
1) of the intro, Due October 3, and2) of the final paper Due December 13 . This final edit is very important. We will spend the final exam period checking for quotation accuracy, paper coherence, etc. It is imperative that you bring all campaing texts, abstracts, articles, etc. to the final for editing purposes.
3) Midterm exam [20%]. October 24 The exam will be in essay and/or short answer format. When studying for the midterm, use the key terms as a study guide. I will write the midterm based on the list of key terms. However, many of the questions will ask you to apply the key terms to an example of political communication. Accordingly, you will need to be familiar with all of the speeches read in class. A good way to study would be to have a study sheet that lists the key term, a definition of it, and then lists all the examples available from class discussions and from the readings.
Link to midterm answer guide (will be uploaded after the exam. . . .). If you would like to argue for a higher grade, you may do so. In order to petition you need to make, in writing, an argument why you think you deserve more credit for an answer. As part of your argument, you should cite evidence from the lectures, textbooks, and reading packet. Any petition for an altered grade is due, to the Communication Studies main office, by November 19, 2004, by 5:00 p.m. Please make sure you get one of the workers in the main office to date, time, and initial your petition, and then place it in my office mailbox. You may also email your request to me. If you choose to send your request via email, it needs to be sent before 6pm on November 21, 2006.
3) Discussion [20%]. In-class discussion: A full description of in class discussion grading criteria is available by following the discussion link. Heavy emphasis will be placed on participation during collective paper writing days.
Brain bounties. I always appreciate it when someone shares the citation for an excellent article, book, or website so that I can add it to the bibliography. I also appreciate it when people indicate when faulty links exist on the syllabus. Given that I update the syllabus every time I teach this course, I need you to help me make sure everything works the way it should. Although this is not extra credit, per se, it will help you out at the end of the semester if you are on the verge of a higher grade. Also, should a question be asked in class for which I do not have a ready answer, if you research the answer then you are eligible for a bounty.
General Information: this link explains late assignment, ADA, and other pertinent policies governing course management.
Week 1: August 22, 24: Introduction to political communication in the electronic age
key terms: public sphere, genre, elements of a rhetorical artifact, elements of a rhetorical situation, elements of cyberpolitics, collective memory, 4 factors causing change in political campaigns, public sphere
review: official webpages for Culver, Nussle, Braley, Whalen, Project Vote Smart
read: UW 1-22, 139-163
Week 2: August 29, 31: issues and ideology
What are the issues in this year's election, and how do we know they are the issues? What are some interesting rhetorical questions posed by Iowa's 2006 election?
key terms: political socialization, agenda setting, ideology, push polling, sampling, survey construction, reduction, synechdoche, political ideology, true compromise, science of campaigning, condensation symbols, wedge issues, segmentation, psuedo issues, dramatic script, frame, Burkean view of language
read: UW 41-54, 115-138, 177-219; MSPI 1-36
August 29: candidate facts due
Week 3: September 5, 7: Gubernatorial/Congressional election project: Issues and facts, Writing the intro
read: MSPI 37-67
review: Culver issues and Nussle issues or Braley issues and Whalen issues
key terms: ideology, ideograph, normalize, political philosophy, political motives/frames, comic v. tragic, representative/liberal/participatory democracy, role of communication in democracy, identification/consubstantiality, 6 reasons democracy demands political philosophy, ideology's 5 functions in a democracy,
September 5: Literature review day. Bring in abstracts and articles.
Week 4: September 12, 14: the announcement
key terms: surfacing, instrumental rhetoric, consummatory rhetoric, functions of campaigns, stages of political campaigns, rhetorical situation, purpose of announcement speech, rhetorical strategy, liberal, radical, conservative, reactionary, attitudes toward change, presumption, functional approach to political positions,
read: UW 23-40; MSPI 67-79
announcement addresses byBush (2/23/04) Interestingly, Bush did not deliver a formal announcement address, which is a break from tradition. It is normal for incumbents to announce late, in order to throw any potential challengers off balance, but no announcement is atypical. However, the Washington Post (March 5, 2004) indicates "a tough partisan speech to GOP governors that amounted to his announcement for reelection" was delivered. The London Times (February 25, 2004) refered to this adress as the "first important speech of his re-election campaign."
Kerry (9/2/03)
Braley "Meet Bruce" and "Bruce on the issues" combine to fulfill the functions of an announcement
Whalen "About Mike" and "Why I'm Running" combine to fulfill the functions of an announcement
Myth in American politics
Week 5: September 19, 21: the convention
key terms: function of conventions, surrogates, benefits of surrogates, elements of a keynote, definition of the situation, identification, legitimacy, pentad, ratios, rhetorical strategies of 4 political positions, dramatistic process, characteristics of rounded statements about motive
read: MSPI 81-108
keynotes:Jordan, Barbara, also available in "Keynote Speech to the Democratic National Convention (July 12, 1976), Contemporary American Voices, Eds. James R. Andrews and David Zarefsky, New York: Longman, 1992. 279-282.
Cuomo, Mario. Keynote address to the Democratic National Convention, July 16, 1984. Public Papers of Governor Cuomo. 680-692.
Richards, Ann 1988 Democratic Convention Keynote address.
Obama, Barack 2004 Democratic Keynote address.
Zel Miller 2004 Republican Keynote Address
Fisher, Mary. "Remarks at the Republican National Convention." August 19, 1992.
for a cite with all the convention addresses, go to:
September 21: Paper 1 due.
Week 6: September 26, 28: the acceptance speech
key terms: purpose and elements of acceptance address, strategies
read: UW 55-93;
Acceptance speeches byClinton 1996 (analysis)
Dole 1996 (analysis)
Braley
Whalen
Week 7: October 3, 5: political advertising
key terms: argument by visual association, emotional appeals, types and functions of ads, 4 phases of ads, sex's influence on the use of attacks, monetary considerations in ad buys, range of media, strategies of ad use (i.e. spurt), identification, apposition, guilt by association and apposition, inviting false inference, rhetorical style. In particular, you might want to consider comparing Robertson et al.'s insights on sex and ads to PCC's. Given Robertson's empirical research, can we challenge PCC's conclusions?
read: UW 94-114
review:
The Living Room Candidate is a website of the American Musem of the Moving Image and is wonderful. It includes a collection of campaign ads, going all the way back to the 1952 campaign and up to and including ads from the 2004 campaign. Take a few minutes, and just wander through this site. This is sooooo cool. If you do not have a good sense of how ads have evolved across the years, definitely play around on this site for a while.
Culver spots
Nussle spots
View all:
Braley spots
Whalen spots (not yet on webpage)
DNCC spots (search for Whalen and a link will highlight)
NRCC spots (I inserted a link to the home page, but could not easily find links to the advertisements)
paper intro edit due October 3
Week 8: October 10, 12: the stump speech
key terms: functions of elections, leadership style, image/issue/personality, incumbency style, challenger style, hybrid style, elements of a stump speech
read: UW 115-138
Bush at the Urban League
Kerry at the Urban League
Bush text Holland, MI, Sept 13, 2004
Kerry text Racine, WV, Sept 6, 2004
link and link to NPR stories on the two stump speeches
Culver
Nussle
Braley look toward bottom on DNCC page for a link to Braley's radio address. Braley's Project Vote Smart page.
Whalen. I never did find speech texts, but I did find come fragments. Check out Project Vote Smart.
For a website with many of the campaign stump speeches, go to www.presidentialrhetoric.com
October 12: Paper 2 due
Week 9: October 17, 19: How do debate formats affect the utility of a debate? What is the function of a debate?
the debates
key terms: elements of a debate, debate strategy, effects of debates
read: UW 164-176
view clips on the Video link
view Braley - Whalen Iowa Press debate, from September 22, 2006. Link.
listen to Braley-Whalen QuadCity Times debate, from October 3, 2006. Link
Braley-Whalen KCRG October 9 debate link. I could not get this link to come up. The only link offered did not take me to October 8, so anyone who has the direct link to the debate, email it to me.
interesting story on ads link follow screen down to "1st District Candidates Trade Blows over Campaign Ad " -- you'll have to listen to lots of stories on murders first . . .
Debate Bibliography
Week 10: October 24, 26: Midterm and inaugurals
Midterm October 24
read: inaugurals by
Lincoln (March 1, 1861)Lincoln (March 4, 1865)
Kennedy (January 20, 1961)
Johnson (November 27, 1963)
Nixon (January 24, 1969)
Ford (August 9, 1974)
Carter (January 22, 1977)
Reagan (January 20, 1981)
Bush (January 20, 1989)
Clinton (January 20, 1993)
Bush (January 20, 2001)
Week 11: October 31, November 2: crisis rhetoric
read: MSPI 109-132
Johnson, The American Promise, a.k.a. "We Shall Overcome," (March 15, 1965)Reagan, The Challenger Explosion (January 28, 1986)
Clinton , The Race Initiative (June 16, 1997)
Paper 3 Due: November 2
Week 12: November 7 (ELECTION DAY), 9:
The class will use this week to construct the outline of what the final paper will look like. At this point, all three campaign paper texts have been written, and you should be developing a sense of how the campaigns unfolded. Remember, the papers are going to be posted as a link to the syllabus, and everyone should be reading them. Sections of papers should be cut and pasted in class to create a ROUGH draft of a final paper.
(Paper 1 link).
(Paper 2 Link).
(Paper 3 link).
Week 13: November 14, 16: War rhetoric and 9/11 (no Cate -- NCA conference):
November 14: continue writing on paper, organized by grad students.
November 16: Jake Thompson guest lectures
read:
Kennedy on the Cuban Missile Crisis (October 22, 1962)Johnson on the Gulf of Tonkin (August 4, 1964)
Nixon on Vietnam (November 3, 1969)
Bush on the Persian Gulf (August 20, 1990)
Bush on Afghanistan (September 20, 2001)
Bush on WTC 9:30 am (September 11, 2001)
from Barksdale AFB (September 11, 2001)"Address to the Nation" (September 11, 2001)
"President's Remarks at the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance" (Septmber 14, 2001)
Week 14: November 21: the state of the union
read: UW 220-251.
Johnson, War on Poverty, (January 8, 1964)Nixon, A New American Revolution, (January 22, 1971)
Reagan, The New Federalism, (January 26, 1982)
Clinton, State of the Union, (January 27, 1998)
no class on the 23rd -- Turkey day
Week 15: November 28, 30: farewells
read:
Eisenhower (January 17, 1961)Nixon (August 8, 1974)
Carter (January 14, 1981)
Reagan (January 11, 1989)
Clinton (January 18, 2001)
Week 16: December 5, 7: Final paper writing
read: UW 252-266
A draft of the paper will be posted at this link. You should read it before class, and come ready with substantive and stylistic revisions.
FINALS WEEK: December 13, weds 1:00-2:50
Final edits of class paper due. These will all be incorporated during the final exam period.