Thesis
Tradition versus equality: An ideological analysis of the presidential campaign rhetoric of George W. Bush and John Kerry regarding gay marriage
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
2005
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/328
Abstract
During the presidential election of 2004, the issue of gay marriage rose to the forefront. Neither incumbent George W. Bush or Democratic candidate John Kerry supported the legalization of gay marriage, but the men talked about the issue in very different ways. In this study, the author performed an ideological analysis of speeches that Bush and Kerry gave regarding gay marriage. Results show that Bush had a dominant ideology of tradition, and Kerry had a dominant ideology of equality. Both Bush and Kerry frequently used ideographs, abstract value-laden terms, to talk about gay marriage. This led to the fact that often times both candidates avoided “real talk” about the issue in favor of their dominant ideology. These findings suggest that when politicians argue from such a strong ideology, they may prevent positive dialogue from taking place, creating larger divisions about issues and between voters.
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Details
- Title
- Tradition versus equality
- Creators
- Brooke M. Hempstead
- Contributors
- Michael Salvador (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Edward R. Murrow College of Communication
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Identifiers
- 99900525099901842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis